FROM   THE  LIBRARY  OF 
REV.   LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,   D.  D. 

BEQUEATHED   BY   HIM  TO 

THE   LIBRARY  OF 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


THE 


/ 


DUTCH  REFORMATION: 


A  HISTORY 

OF   THE   STEUGGLE  IN  THE  NETHERLANDS 
FOR  CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY, 


THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 
BY  W.  CARLOS  MARTYN, 

AUTHOR  OF  "A  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PURITANS,"  "A  HISTORY 
OF  THE  HUGUENOTS,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


PUBLISHED   BY  THE 
AMERICAN   TRACT   SOCIETY, 

150  NASSAU-STREET,  NEW  YORK. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Conc;rcss,  in  the  yoar  1868,  by 
the  American  Tract  Society,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District 
Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Soutlicrn  District  of  New  York. 


PREFACE. 


The  Auglo-Saxons  and  the  Dutch  arc  cousius- 
german.  The  records  of  their  respective  histories 
are  of  mutual  interest.  To  thoughtful  Americans 
the  annals  of  the  Netherlands  are  of  special  con- 
cern. It  was  in  Holland  that  British  Protestantism 
found  an  asylum  in  the  Marian  epoch  ;  it  was  in 
Holland  that  New  England  was  conceived ;  it  was 
in  Holland  that  some  of  the  stoutest  of  the  colonial 
immigrants  were  cradled ;  it  was  in  Holland  that 
our  statesmen  of  76  sought  the  model  of  the  Fed- 
eral Republic. 

Nor  do  these  links,  strong  and  sufficient  in  them- 
selves, form  the  whole  sympathetic  chain.  Eegu- 
lated  liberty  comes  to  us  as  much  from  the  Low 
Countries  as  from  England.  In  tlie  sixteenth  cen- 
tury the  Dutch  soil  was  the  battle-ground  of  human 
progress :  when  the  Eeformation  was  guaranteed 
there,  it  was  won  for  Christendom. 

That  struggle  was  a  long  conspiracy  of  king  and 
priest  against  religion  and  the  masses.  For  a  time 
it  was  local.  On  the  one  side  the  empire  of  the 
mediceval  Csesars,  aggrandized  by  a  multitude  of 
dependencies,  cis  and  trans  Atlantic,  rich  beyond 
the  dreams  of  Croesus,  puissant  as  the  fabled  Her- 
[cules ;  on  the  other  side  a  group  of  cities  governed 
by  merchants  and  advocates —  "  these  regarding 
profit,  those  standing  upon  vantage  of  quirks,"  as 
Walsingham  sneered; precariously  planted  on  an  un- 


4t  PREFACE. 

stable  and  meagTo  soil.  Spain  was  strong  in  every 
tiling  but  justice  ;  the  Netherlands  were  weak  in  all 
save  right.  In  the  end,  weak  right  conquered 
strong  injustice.  Spanish  veterans,  Italian  condot- 
tieri,  German  mercenaries,  papal  bulls,  Mexican 
gold  mines — all  were  pressed  into  service  against 
the  striving  spirit  of  Dutch  independence,  only  to 
be  transformed,  one  after  another,  into  stepping- 
stones  to  liberty  and  an  empire  world-embracing, 
wdien  the  hand  of  the  Spaniard  was  palsied  in  de- 
crepitude.    'T  is  a  lesson  worthy  the  conning. 

As  the  war  went  on  it  became  of  European  im- 
portance. Distinctions  of  nationalities  were  lost. 
Morall}',  there  were  but  two  nations  in  existence — 
that  of  Protestantism  and  that  of  the  popes  ;  for  it 
was  primarily  a  religious  war. .  It  took  a  sanction 
from  the  much-prized  burgher-charters,  but  the  new 
theology  vivified  the  old  dead  forms.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  understand  the  Reformation  era  without  a 
familiarity  with  this,  its  grandest  chapter;  a  fact 
which  gives  the  story  an  indisputable  claim  upon' 
the  attention  of  all  thoughtful  men. 

These  pages  undertake  to  photograph  this  agou}' 
of  the  Netherlands — fighting  and  conquering  not  for 
themselves  alone,  but  for  humanity.  And  as  the 
struggle  was  inspired  by  the  gospel,  this  narrative 
is  written  from  the  evangelical  standpoint  of  the 
actors  in  it — an  entente  cordiale  which  is  never  bro- 
ken. The  volume  opens  with  a  description  of  the 
primitive  condition  of  the  provinces,  analyzes  the 
causes  of  the  revolt  against  Madrid  and  the  Vati- 
can, details  somewhat  minutely  the  events  of  the 
first  decade  of  the  prolonged  co'ntest,  and  closes  at 


PEEFACE.  5 

the  Union  of  Utrecht :  not  that  the  interest  ends 
with  that  achievement,  not  that  the  war  there  furls 
its  banners,  but  because  that  act  assured  the  Refor- 
mation, and  because  thereafter  fierce  internal  strifes 
began,  sect  raving  against  sect,  each  "  swearing  a 
prayer  or  two"  against  the  other,  a  quarrel  neither 
proper  nor  desirable  for  these  sheets  to  depict ; 
therefore  a  few  paragraphs  summarize  the  later  his- 
tory of  the  republic. 

It  would  be  impossible  conscientiousl}^  to  write 
a  history  of  the  Dutch  Heformatiou  without  a  thor- 
ough examination  of  the  original  records  pro  and 
con.  Accordingly  all  the  leading  contemporary 
chronicles  and  pamphlets  of  Holland,  Flanders, 
Spain,  France,  Germany,  and  England  have  been 
studied — at  least  all  obtainable  in  this  country,  very 
many  more  than  any  one  not  acquainted  with  the 
facts  would  suspect.  These  have  been  supplement- 
ed by  a  liberal  use  of  the  works  of  the  Netherland 
archivists,  and  by  citations  from  a  multitude  of 
comparatively  recent  writers  where  these  seemed 
likely  to  enhance  the  interest  or  enlighten  the  doubts 
of  the  narrative.  For  every  statement  of  fact,  au- 
thority, volume  and  page,  is  given.  Possibly  the 
imputation  of  tediousness  and  pedantry  may  be 
hereby  incurred ;  but  that  has  been  esteemed  as 
nothing  compared  with  the  importance  of  an  im- 
pregnable fortification  of  the  text. 

The  many  friends  who  have  lent  their  personal 
aid  and  their  libraries  to  this  work,  are  most  cordi- 
ally thanked. 

Wherever  it  was  possible,  the  actors  in  this 
drama  have  been  summoned  to  the  witness-stand 


6  PREFACE. 

and  made  to  tell  their  own  story  in  their  own  words ; 
for  what  basis  can  compare  with  that  afforded  by 
the  written  correspondence  of  the  parties  them- 
selves? "I  have  long  believed,"  says  Euskin,  "'that 
restored  history  is  of  little  more  value  than  restored 
painting  or  architecture ;  that  the  only  history 
worth  reading  is  that  written  at  the  time  of  which 
it  treats,  the  history  of  what  w^as  done,  and  seen, 
heard  out  of  the  mouflis  of  men  who  did  and  saw- 
One  fresh  draught  of  such  history  is  worth  a  thou- 
sand volumes  of  abstracts  and  reasonings  and  sup- 
positions and  theories."  Without  accepting  this 
dictum  in  its  fullest  sense,  it  may  be  conceded  to 
carry  a  modicum  of  truth.  The  facts  of  history  may 
be  chalked  down  by  the  chronicler ;  the  hidden 
ci'iuses  of  great  movements — at  the  best  but  indis- 
tinctly and  uncertainly — may  be  traced  by  the  phil- 
osophic historian ;  but  the  spirit,  the  aroma,  even 
the  outward  form  of  a  picturesque  age,  can  only  be 
caught  from  the  vivid,  impassioned,  roughshod 
writers  of  the  time. 

Such  a  history  of  the  Dutch  Reformation — full, 
yet  sufficiently  compendious  for  general  circulation, 
has  long  been  a  desideratum.  Of  course,  this  work 
falls  sadly  short  of  its  aim  ;  but  it  is  at  least  an  hon- 
est attempt  k)  focus  and  to  popularize  a  marvellous 
story ;  one  of  which  the  sages  of  the  Porch  and  the 
Grove  in  the  great  days  of  Athens  would  have  loved 
to  speak  to  their  disciples,  had  Christian  hearts 
beaten  within  their  breasts ;  one  which  requires  the 
pencil  of  a  lineal  descendant  of  Livy  or  of  Tacitus 
to  do  it  justice. 

New  York,   ]8('.S. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  DEBATABLE  LAND - page     29 

Characteristics  of  Modern  Holland,  29;  Lessons,  33;  Earliest 
Features  of  the  Netherlands,  35;  Geogi-aphy,  35;  Pliny's  Ac- 
count, 3G;  Ethnograjihy,  36;  Theological  Systems  of  the  Celts 
and  the  Saxons,  37. 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  NETHERLANDS  IN  EMBRYO 38 

Caesar  in  the  Low  Countries,  38;  Belgium,  Batavia,  and  Fries- 
land,  38;  Characteristics  of  the  Frisians,  39;  Democratic  Rudi- 
ments, 39;  Polity  of  the  Belgians  and  Batavians,  40;  Valor  of 
the  Primitive  Races,  40;  Completion  of  the  Roman  Conquest, 
41 ;  Metamorphosis  of  the  Belgic  District,  41 ;  Claudius  Civilis, 
42 ;  Transformation  confined  to  Belgium,  42 ;  The  Frisians  under 
Tiberii;s  and  Vespasian,  43 ;  The  Menapians,  43 ;  Commerce  in 
Embryo,  44;  End  of  the  Roman  Domination,  45;  Epoch  of  the 
Immigration  of  Nations,  45;  Empire  of  the  Franks,  46;  Belgium 
again  denationalized,  40;  The  Frisians  resume  their  Indepen 
dence,  4G;  Introdiiction  of  Nominal  Christianity,  47;  Rome 
l^uts  on  the  Triple  Crown,  47;  Early  Missionaries,  47;  Origin 
of  the  Bishopric  of  Utrecht,  47;  Conflict  between  Chiistianity 
and  the  National  Idols,  48  ;  Charlemagne  lays  the  Ghost  of 
Woden,  49;  Condition  of  the  Netherlands  under  Charlemagne, 
50;  Progressive  Steins  of  the  Frisians  and  Flemings,  52;  Rise 
of  Guilds,  52;  Social  Progress,  53;  European  Politics  revolu- 
tionized, 53  ;  Death  of  Charlemagne,  54 ;  S^^bdivision  of  the 
Frankish  Empire,  54;  Fate  of  the  Low  Countries,  54. 

CHAPTER  III. 
DEVELOPMENT 55 

Mediaeval  Life,  55;  Voluntary  and  Comimlsory  Servitude,  55,  56; 
Status  of  tho'Serfs,  50;  Raids  of  the  Norsemen,  57;  Influence 


S  CONTENTS. 

of  the  Crusades,  58  ;  The  Three  Forces,  58 ;  Feudalism,  59  ; 
Its  Origin,  59 ;  Allodial  and  Feudal  Estates,  59 ;  Demesne 
Lands,  59 ;  Benefices,  59  ;  Became  Hereditary,  59 ;  Rise  of 
Nobility,  60;  Nature  of  the  Feudal  Tenure,  61;  Feudalism  not 
planted  in  Friesland,  62;  Its  Influence  there,  62;  The  Feudal 
Polity  makes  for  Freedom,  62  ;  Why  and  How,  63 ;  Mediaeval 
Ecclesiasticism,  63;  Distinctive  Features,  63;  Rise  of  the  Mu- 
nicipal System,  65;  Influence  of  Wealth,  66;  Progress  of  the 
Commons,  66;  Republican  Genius,  67;  Results,  68;  Growing 
Commercial  Importance  of  the  Netherlands,  69;  The  Nether- 
lands and  the  Norman  Conquest  of  England,  70;  Jacqueline, 
71;  Commencement  of  the  Burguudian  Rule,  71;  Philip  the 
Good,  71;  Charles  the  Bald,  72;  His  Ambitious  Projects,  72; 
Mary  of  Burgundy,  73;  The  "Great  Privilege,"  74;  Mary  and 
Maximilian,  74;  Birth  and  Reign  of  Philip  the  Fair,  74;  Birth 
of  Charles  V.,  75;  Results  of  two  Fortunate  Marriages,  75. 

CHAPTEK  IV. 

RUDIMENTS  OF  THE  REFORMATION 76 

The  Reformation  a  Development,  76;  Troublesome  Question- 
ers, 78;  Course  of  the  Native  Churchmen,  78;  Their  Compara- 
tive Independence,  78;  Early  Opposition  of  the  Low-Country 
Prelates  to  Rome,  78;  Their  Patriotism,  81;  Conflict  with  Pope 
Hildebrand,  82;  The  Reproving  Nathans  of  the  Church  begin 
to  die  ofif,  82;  The  New  Race  of  Dissidents,  83;  Nicknames,  83; 
84;  Character  of  the  Dissidents,  84;  Rise  of  the  Netherland 
Baptists,  85  ;  Vaudois  Massacres,  85 ;  Free  Fairs  the  Seed- 
ground  of  Reform,  85;  Translation  of  the  Bible  into  Low  Dutch 
Rhymes,  85;  Dawn  of  Persecution,  86;  First  Execution  of  Her- 
etics, 86;  Martyrdom,  86;  Dissidents  increase  in  Number,  87; 
John  Baptists  of  the  Reformation,  88;  Increasing  Profligacy  of 
the  Romish  Church,  89 ;  The  Law  commences  to  restrict  Eccle- 
siastical Estates,  90;  Spread  of  Intelligence,  91;  Early  Dutch 
Writers,  92  ;  Mediaeval  Literature  revolutionized,  93  ;  Cham- 
bers of  Rhetoric  founded  in  the  Low  Countries,  95 ;  Invention 
of  Printing,  96;  Knights  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  96;  How  "All 
Things  work  together  for  Good,"  97;  Men  learn  to  discrmii- 
nate,  97. 

CHAPTEK  V. 

THE  GERMAN  C^SAR 98 

The  Netherlands  reach  the  Acme  of  Material  Prosperity,  98; 
Evidences,  98;  Metropolitan  Imj)ortance  of  Antwerp,  98;  Com- 
merce of  the  Middle  Ages  revolutionized,  99 ;  Antwerp  the 


CONTENTS.  9 

Gainer,  90;  Siilendor  of  the  City,  100;  Ghent,  101;  Its  Wealth 
and  Importance,  101;  The  Great  Bell  "Roland,"  102;  Political 
Constitiitious  of  Ghent  and  Antwerp,  102,  103;  Condition  of 
the  Low-Countrymen,  103;  Educational  Institutions,  103;  The 
Women  of  the  Netherlands,  101;  Their  Treatment  and  Influ- 
ence, 104;  Agricultural,  105;  Inventions,  105;  Friesland  isola- 
ted, 197;  Self-governing  Instincts  of  the  Frisians,  107;  Civili- 
zation through  the  Stomach,  108;  The  German  Caesar,  108. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  NEW  REGlJtfE---- - 103 

Time  as  a  Reformer,  109;  Dawn  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,  109; 
Rapid  Decadence  of  Rome,  110;  Rise  of  Public  Opinion,  110; 
The  Second  Band  of  Apostles,  111;  An  Antithesis,  111;  The 
Press  an  Agent  of  Reform,  112;  Progress  of  the  New  Theology 
in  the  Low  Countries,  112;  Causes,  112;  Attendant  Circumstan- 
ces of  the  Reformation,  1-K;  European  Rivalries,  114;  Charles 
V.  enters  the  Lists  against  Reform,  115;  Imperial  Schemes,  116; 
Violent  Outbreaks  of  the  Republican  Spirit,  IIG;  Insidious  Suc- 
cess of  Charles,  IIC;  Sagacious  Despotism,  117;  Great  Vassals 
crippled,  118;  Cunning  outwits  Itself,  118 ;  Luther  anathema- 
tized, 119;  Imperial  Decrees,  119;  Despotism  and  Romanism 
clasp  Hands,  120;  Appalling  Preparations,  121;  An  Initial  Auto 
da  Fe,  121;  Vicissitudes  of  the  Pontificate,  121;  Pacification, 
122;  Use  to  which  Charles  put  It,  123;  Internal  Dissensions  of 
the  Reformation,  123;  The  Munster  Excesses,  124;  Philosophy 
of  Fanaticism,  126;  The  Governant's  Opinion,  128;  The  Empe- 
ror i)roi¥)ses  to  introduce  the  Spanish  Inquisition,  128;  Effect 
of  the  Threat,  128;  A  Shrewd  ManoBUvre,  129. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
EXEUNT - - 130 

A  Gala-Day  at  Brussels,  130 ;  Abdication  of  Charles  V.,  131 ; 
Reasons  for  the  Act,  132;  Retires  to  the  Monastery  of  St. 
Juste,  135;  His  Character,  136;  Philip's  Chief  Inheritance  the 
Revolution,  137. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
AFFINITIES - - 138 

Portrait  of  Philip  II.,  138,  139;  Unnatural  Union  between  Spain 
and  the  Low  Countries,  144;  Old  Rivalries,  144;  Imperilled 
Nationality  asserts  Itself,  145 ;  Latent  Revolution,  146. 

9* 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE  IX. 

SCHEIIES --- 147 

Ascendency  of  the  Monarchical  over  the  Republican  Sjnrit,  147; 
"WTiolesale  Perjury,  147;  The  King  and  the  Citizens,  148;  Philip 
dissembles,  149;  The  People  suspect,  149;  Government  set- 
tled, 149;  Emanuel  Philibert,  Governor-General,  149;  Compo- 
sition of  the  Court,  149;  Crafty  Preparations,  150;  A  Des^jot's 
Desideratum,  150;  Adroit  Absolutism,  150;  Keenactment  of  the 
Imperial  Edicts  against  Heresj',  150;  Poj^ular  Opposition,  151; 
Fires  of  Perseciation  lighted  anew,  151;  The  King  asks  for  a 
Subsidy,  152;  Refused  by  the  States-General,  152;  A  Com- 
promise, 152;  Philip  in  a  False  Position,  153;  War  with  France 
and  the  Pope,  153;  Causes,  153;  Pope  Paul  Carafiix,  154;  Philip 
feels  the  Anomaly  of  his  Position,  154;  Council  of  Theologians, 
155;  Philip  in  England,  155;  Triumphant  Progress  of  Philip's 
Arms,  156;  Peace,  156;  Alva's  Query,  157;  Singular  Terms  of 
the  Pacification,  157. 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  MASK  LIFTED ---  158 

Position  of  Philip  11.  after  the  Treaty  of  Chateau  Cambray, 
158 ;  His  Purpose,  158 ;  Rejoicings  of  the  Low-Countrymen 
over  the  Pacification,  159;  The  King  desires  to  return  to  Spain, 
160;  Necessary  Preliminaries,  161;  Ominous  Restlessness  of 
the  Netherlands,  161;  Sinister  Arrangements,  162;  Conduct  of 
the  Mercenaries,  162;  A  Trial  of  Wits,  162;  Spirit  of  the  Peo- 
ple, 163;  The  Rhetoricians,  163;  Placard  against  Them,  164; 
Its  Futility,  164;  The  New  Bishoprics  Scheme,  164;  How  the 
People  received  It,  165;  Philip's  Severity,  165;  Emanuel  Phil- 
ibert resigns  the  Governor-Generalship,  166 ;  Candidates  for 
the  Vacant  Office,  166. 

CHAPTER  XL 

EGMONT  AND  ORANGE 167 

Christierne,  Duchess  of  Lorraine,  167  ;  Sketch  of  Lamoral, 
Count  Egmont,  167;  Portrait  of  William  of  Orange,  1G9;  His 
Birth  and  Early  Education,  169;  An  Unexpected  Inheritance, 
171 ;  Transferred  to  the  Imperial  Court  at  Brussels,  172  ;  Is 
trained  under  the  Eye  of  Charles  V.,  172;  Honored  and  trusted 
by  the  Emperor,  172;  His  Standing  with  Philip  II.,  174;  Earns 
the  Surname  of  William  the  "Silent,"  174;  Personal  Appear- 
ance,  175;  William's  Character  at  this  Period,  176;   Philip's 


CONTENTS.  11 

Instinctive  Dread  of  Him,  177  ;  Orange  and  Egmont  fail  to 
attain  the  Governor-Generalship,  177;  Reasons,  177;  Non-Suc- 
cess of  the  Duchess  of  Lorraine's  Suit,  179;  Margaret  of  Parma 
appointed  Govemaut,  179. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

A  CHECK--- -- 1^0 

Philip  welcomes  the  New  Governant  to  the  Netherlands,  180; 
Romantic  History  of  Margaret  of  Parma,  180;  Her  Ungainly 
Personal  Appearance,  182;  Policy  of  Her  Appointment,  182; 
The  Three  Governmental  Chambers,  183;  The  Consulta,  184; 
Barlaiment,  18.5;  Viglius,  185  ;  Anthony  Perrenot,  Bishop  of 
Arras,  186;  History  aiKl  Character,  18G;  Distribution  of  the 
Provincial  Stadtholderates,  190;  Philip's  Address  to  the  Grand 
Council  of  MechHn,  190;  Convocation  of  the  States-General  at 
Ghent,  190;  The  Feast,  191;  Midnight  Mission  of  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  191;  Meeting  of  the  National  Deputies,  191;  Perreuot's 
Harangue,  192;  Philip's  Dinner,  193;  Reply  of  the  Deputies 
to  the  King's  "Request,"  193;  Philip's  Anger,  195;  Perrenot's 
Advice,  195;  Response  to  the  "Remonstrance,"  195;  Lies,  196; 
Philip  and  Orange,  196;  The  King- embarks  for  Spain,  197;  Mar- 
garet de  Valois,  197;  Philip  at  Home,  198;  The  Victims,  198. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

UNDERCURRENTS - •  I'J'-^ 

Material  Prosperity  of  the  Netherlands,  199;  A  Glance  below 
the  Surface  of  Affmrs,  200;  The  Seeds  of  Convulsion,  200;  Con- 
tinued Assaults  of  the  Court  on  the  Republican  Rudiments, 
201;  Status  of  the  People,  201;  Rottenness  of  the  Aristocracy, 
202;  Profligacy  of  the  Titled  Ladies  of  the  States,  202;  Influ- 
ence of  the  Nobles,  204:;  Democratic  Tendency  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, 205;  Philosophy  of  this  Fact,  205;  Spread  of  the  Reform, 
205;  The  Counterpoise,  207;  Protestantism  in  the  Netherlands, 
208;  The  People  enter  the  Arena  against  Priestcraft,  209;  The 
Baptism  of  Suffering,  210;  Philip  and  Catharine  de'  Medici, 
211;  The  Governmental  Book,  211. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

QUICKSANDS - 212 

Intimated  Insanity  of  Philip  II.,  212;  A  Capital  Blunder,  212; 
Pliabilityof  Perrenot,  213;  Management,  213;  The  Administra- 
tion opens  Its  Campaign,  214;  The  Papal  Bull,  214;  Ol^ect  of 


12  CONTENTS. 

the  lunovation,  211;  Presto!  215;  Trickery,  215;  Coustitutioiml 
Oj^positiou,  '21G;  Voice  of  the  Charters,  21G;  Perrenot's  Conuec- 
tion  with  the  New  Bisho^jrics,  217;  Advanced  to  the  Primacy 
of  the  Netherlands,  218;  Eage  of  the  People,  218;  The  Jlinister 
instructs  the  King,  218;  A  Popular  Syllogism,  218;  The  Bish- 
op's Prayer,  219;  Growing  Excitement,  219;  Ministerial  Plati- 
tudes, 219  ;  The  Mercenaries  in  Zealand,  220 ;  Alarm  of  the 
Court,  220;  Correspondence,  221;  Philip  withdraws  the  Foreign 
Soldiers,  222;  Jubilation,  222. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

AGITATION---. - -- •  223 

Ultramontane  Sighs,  223;  Effect  of  the  Departure  of  the  Mer- 
cenaries, 223;  The  Agitation  gathers  to  a  Focus,  223;  How  the' 
Cities  received  the  New  Bishops,  224;  Perrenot  gets  the  Red 
Hat,  225;  The  Cardinal's  Hauteur,  225;  Altercations  between 
Granvelle  and  the  Seigneurs,  225;  Conduct  of  the  Consul ta. 
225;  A  Scene  at  the  Council  Table,  226;  Relations  between 
Orange  and  Granvelle,  226;  A  Hollow  Friendship  broken,  227; 
Orange  and  Egmont  memorialize  the  King,  228;  The  Royal 
Answer,  229;  Count  Horn,  229;  Voluminous  Despatches,  229; 
Philip  opens  his  Heart,  230;  Financial  Condition,  231;  Plan  for 
debasing  the  Coin,  231;  The  Eoj'al  Bankrupt  resorts  to  Chica- 
nery, 231;  The  Abbej's  and  the  New  Bishoj^s  effect  a  Compro- 
mise, 232. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  INQUISITION 233 

The  Inquisition  the  Chief  Cause  of  the  Revolution,  233;  Queries, 
233;  End  and  Means  of  Christianity,  234;  Early  Corrim:)tions, 
234;  Latin  and  Greek  Churches,  235;  Nicene  Council  inaugu- 
rates Punishment  for  Heresy,  236;  Character  of  the  Penalties, 
236;  Decrees  and  Counter-Decrees  of  the  Earlj'  Roman  Empe- 
rors. 236;  Rise  of  the  Papacy,  237;  Usurpations  of  the  Popes, 
238;  Causes  of  Their  Success,  239;  Props  of  Usurped  Author- 
ity, 240  ;  Three  Phases  of  the  Inquisition,  241 ;  Arbitrative 
Authority  transformed  into  Ecclesiastical  Jurisdiction  of  all 
Causes,  242;  Episcopal  Form  of  the  Inquisition,  243;  Pontifi- 
cate of  Innocent  III.,  243;  The  Vaudois,  244;  Ecclesiastical 
Commission  under  Dominic,  245;  Establishment  of  the  Papal 
Inquisition,  246;  Distinctive  Features,  246;  Inception  of  the 
Spanish  Type  of  the  Inquisition,  247';  Torquemada,  247;  Xim- 
enes,  250;  Methods  of  Procedure  of  the  Inquisition,  252;  The 
"Black Book,"  255;  The  Torture-Room,  257;  Procession  to  the 


CONTENTS.  IB 

Stake,  259;  Statistics  of  Slaughter,  2G0;  Instruments  of  the  In- 
quisition, 261;  Society  of  Jesus,  262;  Marseillaise  of  the  Coun- 
ter-Eevolution,  262;  Influence  of  the  Inquisition,  2G3. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  EDICTS  - 26(3 

Early  Introduction  of  the  Episcopal  Inquisition  into  the  Neth- 
erlands, 266;  Charles  V.  brings  in  the  Papal  Form,  266;  Activ- 
ity of  the  Pontiflcian  Censors,  266;  Philip  schemes  to  inaugu- 
Tflte  the  Sp)anish  Inquisition,  267;  New  Bishoi^rics  Part  of  that 
Programme,  268;  Granvelle's  Slyness,  268;  Fresh  Impetus  given 
to  Reform,  268;  Charlatan  Reformers,  268;  Open  Conventicles, 
269;  The  Defiance  of  the  Edicts  i^rovokes  Renewed  Persecu- 
tion, 269;  The  Roj'al  Inquisitor,  270;  Granvelle's  Complaint, 
270;  Commencement  of  an  Inqiiisitorial  Campaign,  271;  Ex- 
ploits of  Peter  Titelmann,  271 ;  Titelmann  and  Red-Rod  vis-a- 
vis,  272;  Gratulatory  Speech  of  Philip,  273;  Granvelle's  Witti- 
cism, 273;  The  People  resist  the  Inquisitors,  273;  Count  Ber- 
ghen  denounced,  274;  Riot  at  Valenciennes,  274;  Margaret's 
Revenge,  275;  Protestantism  of  the  Northern  Provinces,  275; 
Immigration  Thither,  275;  Government  essays  to  stop  It,  276; 
Efforts  of  the  Magistrates  to  shield  the  Reformed,  277;  The 
Hoodwinked  Commission,  277;  Organization  of  the  Reformed 
Dutch  Church,  278. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

MINES  AND  COUNTER-MINES 279 

Crisis  in  the  Netherlands,  279;  Unjiopularity  of  Granvelle,  279; 
He  presses  Philip  to  return  to  Brussels,  279;  The  King  vouch- 
safes no  Answer,  279  ;  The  Minister  carries  It  with  a  High 
Hand,  280;  "The  Smithy,"  280;  League  of  the  Nobles  against 
Granvelle,  281;  The  Seigneurs  entrench  Themselves  behind 
•  the  Charters,  281;  William  of  Orange  leads  the  OpiDOsition, 
281;' War  in  France  between  Catharine  de'  Medici  and  the  Hu- 
guenots, 282  ;  Philip  orders  the  Low-Countrymen  to  assist 
Catharine,  282;  Amazement  of  the  Goveruant,  283;  The  Dilem- 
ma, 283;  Granvelle's  Ruse,  284;  The  People  clamor  for  the 
Convocation  of  the  States-General,  284;  Margaret  convenes  the 
Knights  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  285;  Caucus  at  Nassau-House, 
285;  Decision  of  the  Knights,  285;  Montigny  sets  out  for  Ma- 
drid, 286;  Gi-anvelle's  Despatches,  286;  Montigny's  Audiences 
with  the  King,  280;  Royal  Equivoques,  287;  Margaret  attempts 
to  alienate  Egmont  from  Orange,  288;  Reasons  for  Her  Fail- 
ure, 289. 


14  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEE  XIX. 

GRANVELLE'S  WITHDRAWAL 290 

The  Netherlands  ou  the  High-road  to  Euin,  290;  March  Letter 
of  the  Seigneiirs  to  the  King,  290;  Granvelle  instructs  Phihp 
how  to  answer,  291;  The  Reply,  292;  "'Will  You  walk  into 
My  Parlor?"  said  the  Spider  fro  the  Fly,"  292;  The  Grandees 
embittered,  292;  Second  Letter  to  the  King,  293;  Orange,  Eg- 
mont,  and  Horn  ret&-e  from  the  Council  of  State,  294;  Alva's 
Opinion,  294;  A  Skirmish  of  Pens,  294;  Granvelle  assailed  by 
the  Comedians,  295;  Brederode  and  Robert  de  la  Marck,  296; 
Grobbendonck's  Suijper,  296;  Fool's  Cap  Liverj',  296,  297;  Po- 
sition of  Granvelle,  297;  Margaret  deserts  Him,  298;  Mission 
of  Armenteros,  298;  Dismissal  of  Granvelle,  299;  His  Insou- 
ciant Departure,  299. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

JUGGLING --- 301 

Rumors  of  Grauvelle's  Return,  301;  Return  ot  the  Grandees  to 
the  Council  of  State,  302 ;  Their  Diligence,  302 ;  Margaret's  Wrath 
against  the  late  Minister,  302 ;  Disgrace  of  the  Whole  Cardinal- 
ist  Faction,  303 ;  Programme  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  303 ; 
Privy  and  Finance  Councils  Sinks  of  Corruption,  304;  Deprav- 
ity of  the  Administration,  304;  Crimination  and  Recrimination, 
304 ;  The  Huckstering  Governant,  305 ;  Eflects  of  the  Adminis- 
trative Venality,  306;  Growth  of  Heresy,  306;  Momentary  Sus- 
pension of  the  Inquisition,  306;  Philip  orders  Perseciition  to 
be  resumed,  307;  Execution  of  Fabricius,  308;  Antwerp  Muti- 
nies, 308;  The  News  at  Madrid,  308;  Flandevs  memorializes 
Philip  against  Titelmanu,  309;  Non-success  of  the  Petition,  309; 
Sine  Die  Adjournment  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  310;  A  Glance 
at  Its  Work,  310;  Philip  orders  the  Tridentine  Decrees  to  be 
received  in  the  States,  311;  General  Surprise,  311;  Ma;rgaret's 
Dismay,  311;  Advice  of  Viglius,  311;  Counsel  of  Orange,  311; 
Embassy  of  Egmont,  311 ;  Debate  on  His  Instructions,  312 ; 
Chagrin  of  Viglius,  312;  Is  prostrated  by  a  Stroke  of  Ajpoplexj', 
312;  Joachim  Hopper,  312;  Egmont  sets  out  for  Spain,  313; 
His  Reception,  314;  The  Cozened  Soldier,  315;  Philip  and  the 
Theologians,  315;  Hypocrisy,  or  Fanaticism?  316;  A  Pleas- 
ant Partmg,  316;  Egniont's  Return,  316;  The  Sealed  Instruc- 
tions opened,  317  ;  Astonishment  of  Egmont,  317  ;  Indigna- 
tion of  Orange,  318 ;  Rebukes  Egmont,  318 ;  Egmont  loses 
Caste,  318. 


CONTENTS.  15 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  DEAGON'S  TEETH 319 

Coi;riers  En-rotite,  319;  Conclave  of  Ecclesiastics  and  Civilians, 
319;  The  Mitigation,  320;  Eemark  of  Orange,  321;  People's 
Opinion  of  the  Mitigation,  321;  A  Notable  Admission,  322; 
Doctors  Disagree,  322;  Kumors,  322;  The  Bayonne  Interview, 
323;  Incessant  Conflicts  between  the  People  and  the  Inquisi- 
tion, 324;  Activity  of  the  Keformers,  325;  Inquisitors  petition 
Philip  for  Protection,  32G;  Decisive  Eescript  of  the  King,  326; 
Meeting  of  the  Council  of  State,  327;  Viglius  and  Orange  ex- 
change Holes,  328;  Publication  of  the  Canons  of  Trent,  329; 
Ominous  Comments  of  the  Populace,  330;  Protest  of  the  Bra- 
bautine  Cities,  330;  The  Seigneurs  refuse  to  enforce  the  Tri- 
dentine  Decrees,  330;  Orange's  Letter  to  the  Eegent,  331;  Eg- 
mont  vacillates,  331;  The  Last  Year  of  Peace,  331. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

"THE  BEGGAES" 332 

Count  Megen's  Announcement,  332  ;  A  Double  Wedding  at 
Brussels,  334;  The  Sermon  at  Culemburg-House,  334;  Frauds 
Junius,  334;  Formation  of  a  League  against  the  Inqiiisition, 
335;  Signing  of  the  Covenant,  335;  It  becomes  the  Fashion, 
33G;  Brederode,  Nassau,  and  St.  Aldegonde,  33G;  Lesser  Lead- 
ers of  the  League,  337;  Grandees  stand  aloof  from  the  Move- 
ment, 337;  The  Statesman  Prince,  338;  Meeting  of  the  Seign- 
eurs at  Breda,  339 ;  Margaret  convenes  the  Notables,  339 ;  Emi- 
gration, 310;  Discussion,  340;  Argument  of  Orange  against  the 
Inquisition,  341 ;  The  Petitioners,  345 ;  Wait  upon  the  Eegent, 
346;  Barlaiment's  Taunt,  347;  Margaret's  Eeply  to  the  Peti- 
tioners, 347;  The  Confederates  retire  to  considt,  317;  Its  Unsat- 
isfactory Nature,  348;  Second  Audience,  318;  The  Ultimatum, 
348;  Arrangements  of  the  Leaguers,  348;  The  Carouse,  348; 
"Vivent  les  Gueux,"  349;  Baptismal  Eites  of  the  "Beggars," 
349  ;  Orange  and  Egmont  pledge  the  Gueux,  350 ;  Universal 
Adoption  of  the  "Beggar's"  Dress,  351. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

FIELD-PEEACHING - 352 

The  Governant's  Portrait-painting,  352;  The  "Murderation," 
353;  Margaret's  Stratagem,  353;  New  Embassy  to  Spain,  254; 
March  of  Events,  355;  A  Forgery,  35(1;  Field-preaching,  3.56; 
Characteristics,  357,  The  Preachers,   357;  In  the  Fields,  3^'^ 


IG  CONTENTS. 

Calvinists  especially  identified  with  the  open  Air  Conventicles, 
3(51;  Field-pi'eachiug  encouraged  by  the  Gneux.  362;  Feeling 
at  Coiirt,  3(32;  Parchment  Fiats,  3G2;  The  Pieformed  demand 
Legal  Recognition,  31)3;  Terror  of  the  Antwerp  Magistrates, 
3G3;  Orange  in  Antwerp,  304;  The  Court  Caxj-in-haud  to  Will- 
iam the  Silent,  304;  A  Stab  in  the  Back,  3(35;  Convention  of 
the  Gueux  at  St.  Trond,  3G5;  Duflfel  Conference,  366;  The  Vin- 
dication, 367;  The  Regent's  Evasion,  368;  A  Sinister  Thi-eat, 
368;  Meeting  of  the  Spanish  Council  at  the  Grove  of  Segovia, 
368;  Sentiments  of  the  Eoj-al  Councillors,  369;  Their  Advice 
to  Philip,  369;  An  Absurd  List  of  Concessions,  370;  Insincerity 
of  the  King,  370;  Philip  in  the  Confessional  of  the  Vatican, 
371;  Granvelle's  Forebodings,  373;  "  Great  and  Admirable  Voy- 
ages of  King  Philip  IL,"  373. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  IMAGE-BEEAKEHS 374 

Field  Conventicles  characterized,  374  ;  Image  -  worship  De- 
noianced  by  the  Eeformed  Preachers,  374;  The  Zealots,  375; 
Ecclesiastical  Architecture  in  the  Netherlands,  375;  Outbreak 
of  the  Iconoclasts,  376;  First  Peltings  of  the  Storm,  376;  Re- 
ports of  the  £meute  reach  Antwerp,  378;  GeiTcral  Excitement, 
378;  Ribald  Jests,  380;  Precursory  Disturbances,  380;  Bo-Peep 
of  the  Madonna,  381 ;  Scuffle  in  the  Cathedral,  381 ;  Magis- 
trates in  Council,  382;  An  Uneasy  Night,  382;  The  Morrow, 
382;  Sack  of  Antwerp  Cathedi-al,  384;  Continued  Riot,  386; 
Inaction  of  the  Citizens,  387;  Antwerp  Quieted,  388;  The  Image- 
Breakers  sweep  over  the  Netherlands,  389;  Incidents,  389; 
Scene  at  Ghent,  390;  Events  at  Valenciennes,  391;  Occurrences 
at  Tournay,  391;  Act  of  Posthumous  Justice,  391;  Extent  of  the 
Waste,  393;  A  Discriminating  Destruction,  393;  Vandalism,  but 
not  Blood-thirstiness,  393;  Honesty  of  the  Image-Breakers,  391; 
Their  Insignificant  Number,  396;  Reformed  Party  of  the  Low 
Coiiutrics  not  Responsible  for  the  Outbreak,  396;  Philosophy 
of  the  Iconomachy,  397;  Consternation  of  the  Court  at  Brus- 
sels, 399;  Margaret  in  a  Bellicose  Mood,  399;  Consults  with  the 
Seigneurs,  399;  Events  tame  the  Shrew,  400;  The  Governant 
decides  to  desert  the  Capital,  401;  Midnight  Interview  with 
the  Grandees,  401;  Vain  Expostulation,  402;  Viglius' Announce- 
ment, 402;  Brussels  secured  against  an  Outbreak,  403;  Marga- 
ret's Relapse,  403;  The  Accord,  404;  The  Regent's  Letter  to  the 
King.  404;  The  Pupil  of  Loyola,  405;  Vain  Hopes  of  the  Re- 
formers, 405. 


CONTENTS.  17 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  REACTION- - 40G 

Pacitic  Influeuce  of  the  Accord,  40G;  The  Seigneurs  quit  Brus- 
sels for  Their  Stadtholderates,  40G;  Orange  in  Antwerp,  406; 
Arranges  Terms  of  Just  Agreement  between  All  Parties,  407 ; 
Margaret  displeased,   408;    William's  Ecply  to  Her  Remon- 
strance, 40S;"she  dissembles,  408;  Orange  not  deceived,  408; 
Departs  for  the  North,  408;  William's  Justice  disarms  Riot, 
409;  Hoogstraaten  in  Mechlin,  409;  Megen  in  Guilders,  409; 
Egmont  in  Flanders,  410;  Exchanges  the  Baton  of  St.  Qucntin 
for  the  Staff  of  Peter  Titelmann,  411 ;  Dishon-orable  Severity,  411 ; 
Count  Louis  of  Nassau  remonstrates,  412;  Horn  in  Tournay, 
412;  Brief  Interval  of  Religious  Freedom,  414;  Treachery  and 
Dissimulation  of  the  Regent,  414;  Ceases  to  coquette  with  the 
Patriot  Leaders,  415;  Interview  with  Viglius,  415;  Arrival  of 
Phihp's  Post  Factum  Concessions,  416;  Margaret  manoeuvres, 
416;  Recalls  Horn  from  Tournay,  417;  Increasing  Arrogance,  417; 
Nullification  of  the  Accord  by  Construction,  418;  Orange  com- 
plains, 418;  Varying  Effect  of  Margaret's  Estrangement,  419; 
Philip  learns  of  the  Iconomachy,  419;  Asks  the  Advice  of  His 
Councillors,  420;   Their  Opinion,   420;   Ruy  Gomez  and  the 
Duke  of  Alva,  420;  Two  Methods,  421;  The  King's  Determina- 
tion, 421 ;  He  conceals  It,  422  ;  Announces  His  Intention  to 
visit  the  Netherlands,  422;  The  Governaut  duped,  423;  The 
Royal  Budget,  42.3;  Dissolution  of  the  League,  425;  Orange 
FamiHar  with  the  King's  Programme,  425 ;  The  Use  of  Spies,  425, 
Important  Meeting  of  the  Seigneurs  at  Deudermonde,  427 ;  Eg- 
mont's  Defection  prevents  a  Decision,  428;  Weak  Behavior  of 
theReciisant  Soldier,  429;  Horn  retires  to  Weert,  431;  Isolation 
of  William  the  Silent,  432;  His  Plea  for  Toleration,  432;  Avows 
Himself  a  Protestant,  432;  Reformed  Consistories  established, 
433;  Bickering  Sects,  434;  Antwerp  Reformers  attempt  to  sub- 
sidize the  Court,   434;  Margaret's  "Study  of  Revenge,"  435; 
Bold  Stretches  of  Arbitrary  Power,  435;  Accord  revoked,  435; 
Foreign  Mercenaries  called  into  the  Provinces,  435;  Ill-regu- 
lated and  Fragmentary  Resistance  of  the  People,  436  ;  Noir- 
carmes  before  Valenciennes,  436;  The  City  shuts  Its  Gates  in 
his  Face,  and  appeals  for  Aid,  437;  The  Gueux  in  ilotion,  438; 
New  Petition,  439;  Margaret's  Haughty  Answer,  439;  Confed- 
erates take  Arms,  439;  Nassau  at  Austruweel,  440;  Tumult  in 
Antwerp,  440;  Appeased  by  Orange  without  Bloodshed,  440; 
Noircarmes  defeats  the  Leaguers,   440;  Elation  of  the  Court, 
441;  Siege  of  Valenciennes  pressed,  441;  Capitulation  of  the 
City.  442;  Chastisement,  442;  Execution  of  Do  Bray  and  Do  la 


18  CONTENTS. 

Grange,  442 ;  The  New  Oath,  443 ;  Bead-roll  of  Court-Saints 
who  took  It,  444;  Orange  and  Others  refuse  to  take  It,  444; 
Margaret  endeavors  to  joersuade  the  Prince  to  subscribe,  445; 
William  and  Berti  tete-a-tete,  445;  Orange  determines  to  quit 
the  Netherlands  for  a  Season,  445 ;  FareweU  Interview  between 
Orange  and  Egmont  at  Willebrock,  445  ;  A  Prophecy,  447; 
The  Prince's  Letter  to  Philip,  Margaret,  Horn,  and  Egmont, 
448;  Sets  out  for  Germany,  449;  Brederode's  Good-by  Carouse, 
450 ;  Flight  and  Death  of  the  "  Great  Beggar, "  451 ;  The  Exodus, 
451;  Panic,  451;  Licensed  Spoilers,  452;  Margaret  enters  Ant- 
werp at  the  Head  of  an  Army,  452;  Deputation  from  the  Lu- 
theran Princes,  452;  A  New  Edict,  453;  The  Governant's  Mis- 
take, 453;  Triumph  of  the  Coiirt,  454;  The  Eeaction  Useful  to 
Eeform,  454. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

ALVA • 455 

The  Outbreak,  455;  Margaret  awaits  her  Guerdon,  455;  Philip 
determines  to  supercede  Her,  455;  A  Morisco  Precedent,  456; 
Alva  to  be  sent  into  the  Low  Countries,  45  G;  Warlike  Prepara- 
tions, 457;  Portrait  of  the  Duke  of  Alva,  458;  His  Farewell  In- 
terview with  Philip  at  Ai-anjuez,  401;  The  Diike  en-route,  4G1; 
Margaret  strives  to  prevent  his  Incoming,  4G2;  Mortification  of 
the  Governant,  462;  Her  Letter  to  Philip,  463;  To  Alva,  463; 
The  King's  Eeply,  464;  Death  of  Berghen,  464;  Alva's  Muster 
at  Alexandria  de  Palla,  464;  The  March,  464;  Character  of  the 
Invading  Army,  465;  The  Corps  of  Courtesans,  465;  Alva  enters 
the  Netherlands,  466;  The  Welcome,  467;  Egmont  meets  the 
Duke,  467;  "Whom  the  Gods  would  destroy.  They  first  make 
mad,"  468;  Alva  at  Brussels,  408;  His  Siillen  Eeception,  468; 
The  Exodus,  468;  The  Duke's  Sang  Froid,  469;  His  Interview 
with  Margaret,  469;  Incidents,  470;  Alva  exhibits  His  Commis- 
sion, 471;  Preliminary  Acts,  472;  Omens,  473. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  COUNCIL  OF  BLOOD 474 

Purpose  of  the  New  Captain-General,  474;  Philip  and  the  Pope 
unite  to  facilitate  His  Labors,  474;  The  Netherlanders  denation- 
alized, 475 ;  Plot  to  arrest  the  Leading  Seigneurs,  475 ;  Treach- 
erous Pleasure,  476;  Horn  enticed  to  Brussels,  477;  Continued 
Gloom  of  the  Capital,  477;  The  Hour  strikes,  477;  Arrest  of, 
Egmont  and  Horn,  478;  Other  Arrests,  479;  The  Captive  Seign- 
eurs sent  to  Ghent,  480;  Elation  of  Alva  and  Philip,  480;  Gran- 
velle's  Inquiry,  480 ;  Titelmann's  Foreboding,   481  ;   Margaret 


CONTENTS.  19 

resents  the  Conp-de-nlain,  481;  Demands  Iler  Dismissal,  481; 
General  Consternation,  482;  Emigration  at  Flood-Tide,  482; 
Forbidden  under  Pain  of  Death  and  Confiscation,  482;  The 
Ten  Merchants  of  Tournay,  482;  An  Honest  Churchman,  482; 
Alva  affects  to  despise  the  Exodus,  483;  His  Efforts  to  stay  It, 
483;  Absolutism,  483;  Institution  of  the  Council  of  Troubles, 
484;  Composition  of  the  New  Tribunal,  485;  Alva's  Check  on 
the  Powers  of  the  Blood-Judges,  486;  Initial  Meeting  of  the 
Council,  486. 

CHAPTEE  XXVIII. 
AT  WORK -- 487 

Regulations  of  the  Coiancil  of  Blood,  -187;  Method  of  Proce- 
dure, 488;  Treason  defijred,  489;  Vargas'  Latin,  490;  Terrible 
Industry,  491;  The  Judges  in  Session,  492;  A  "Word  concern- 
ing Vargas,  492  ;  The  Judges  at  Odds,  493 ;  Sleepy  Hassels, 
494;  Vargas  again,  494;  A  Harvest  of  Death,  494;  Civil  "War  in 
France,  49.5;  Refugees  enter  the  Huguenot  Service,  496;  Com- 
plaints, 496;  Decrees,  496;  Catharine  de' Medici's  Despairing 
Cry,  496;  Alva's  Response,  496;  Aremberg  marches  into  France, 
497;  Discontent  of  Margaret,  497;  Procures  Her  Dismissal  from 
the  King,  497;  Parting  Scenes,  498;  Silver  Sorrow,  498;  She 
urges  Philip  to  be  Merciful,  499;  The  Farewell,  499;  Her  Ad- 
ministration characterized,  500;  Alva  assumes  the  Governor- 
Generalship,  500;  Brutum  Fulmen  against  Orange,  500;  The 
Prince's  Reply,  501;  "William's  Son,  the  Count  of  Buren,  kid- 
napped, 501;  Protests,  502;  Vargas  and  the  Dons  of  Louvain, 
502;  Whispers  from  Madrid,  502;  General  Feehng  of  Insecuri- 
ty, 503;  Offenders  executed  in  Gangs,  504;  Examples,  504; 
Shrovetide  Eve,  505;  Status  of  the  Sufferers,  505;  Alva's  Gag, 
506;  Confiscations,  507;  Proscription  a  Bad  Paymaster,  507; 
Searching  Despotism,  508;  The  "Wild  Beggars,"  509;  Orange 
asked  to  take  Arms,  510;  He  decides  to  do,  510. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

LIBERTY'S  DRUM-TAP 511 

Asiiirations  of  the  Refugee  Prince,  511;  Eff'orts  to  redress  the 
Grievances  of  the  States  by  Peaceful  Means,  ^12;  Alva  and  the 
Antwerp  Burghers,  512;  Intercession  of  the  German  Emi^eror 
rejected,  513;  Warlike  Preparations,  514;  The  Antagonists,  514; 
William's  Activity,  515;  Schemes  for  obtaining  Foreign  Coun- 
tenance, 516;  Louis  Nassau,  517;  William  invests  Him  with 
Authority  to  enroll  an  Army,  518;  Pecimiary  Embarrassments 
of  the  Patriots,  518;  Individual  and  Municipal  Contributions, 


20  CONTENTS. 

519;  Character  of  the  Levies,  520;  Plan  of  Campaign,  520;  The 
Tripartite  luYasion,  521;  Defeat  of  De  Villars,  521;  Rout  of  De 
Cocqueville,  521;  Louis  Nassau  in  Groniugen,  522;  Ai-emberg 
despatched  to  repel  Him,  524 ;  Manoeuvring,  525  ;  Battle  of 
Heiliger-Lee,  526;  Eout  and  Death  of  Aremberg,  528,  529;  Fall 
of  Adolphus  Nassau,  529;  Count  Louis'  Booty,  529. 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
TEAGEDIES - 531 

Effect  of  the  Battle  of  Heiliger-Lee,  531;  Alva's  Rage,  531; 
Eajjid  Vengeance,  532;  Execution  of  Backerzeel,  533;  Egmont 
and  HoEQ  brought  to  Brussels,  534;  Two  Facts,  534;  Cumula- 
tive Illegality,  535;  Interrogatories,  535;  Articles  of  Acciasation 
against  the  Two  Seigneurs,  536;  They  plead  to  the  Jurisdic- 
tion, 537;  Fruitless  Efforts  of  Their  Friends,  538,  539;  Interces- 
sion of  Foreign  Powers,  539;  Counsel  retained,  540;  Pleas  of 
Counsel,  540;  The  Government  embarrassed,  541;  Alva  a^jpeals 
to  Philip  to  stop  the  Harangues  of  the  Advocates,  541;  The 
King  complies,  541;  The  Cases  foreclosed,  542;  Egmont  and 
Horn  sentenced  to  Death,  543;  Reflections  on  the  Trial,  543; 
Obsequioiis  Viglius,  543;  The  Bishop  of  Ypres  sent  to  shrive 
Egmont,  544;  His  Unavailing  Praj'er,  544;  In  the  Cell  of  the 
Condemned,  545  ;  Egmont's  Last  Hour,  545,  546  ;  Scene  in 
Horn's  Cell,  547;  Details  of  the  Execution  of  the  Grandees, 
547;  On  the  Scaffold,  549;  The  Headsman  strikes,  549;  Popu- 
lar Grief,  550;  Results,  551. 

CHAPTER  XXXL 

DISASTROUS  CAMPAIGNING - ■     552 

Alva  sets  out  for  the  North,  552;  The  Royalist  Muster,  552; 
"Have  You  seen  the  Bride':"  553;  Whereabouts  of  Louis  Nas- 
sau, 553;  Skirmish  at  Groniugen,  554;  Retreat  of  the  Patriots, 
555;  Position  of  Count  Louis  of  Jemmiugen,  556;  The  Pursuit, 
556;  Tactics  of  Nassau,  556;  Alva's  "Science,"  556;  The  Muti- 
ny, 557;  The  Attack,  557;  Tremendous  Defeat  of  the  Patriots, 
557;  Elation  of  Alva,  558;  Rejoicings,  558;  The  Duke's  Inquis- 
itorial Campaign,  559;  Incidents,  560;  Orange  ojiens  a  New 
Campaign,  561;  Alva  marches  to  meet  Him,  562;  Williams' 
Manifold  Discouragements,  562;  His  Piety,  563;  The  Levies 
completed,  565;  State  Papers,  566;  The  Prince  crosses  the 
Rhine,  566;  Passes  the  Meuse,  567;  Astonishment  of  Alva,  567; 
William  challenges  a  Battle,  567  ;  The  Duke  declines,  568 ; 
Masterly  Tactics,  568,  569;  Skirmishing,  56!);  Death  of  Hoog- 


CONTENTS.  21 

straaten,  569;  Painful  Emban-assment  of  William,  569,  570; 
Junction  vnth  De  Genlis,  570;  Sufferings  of  the  Patriots,  570; 
Disastrous  Close  of  the  Campaign,  570;  Upright  and  Generous 
Conduct  of  Orange,  570;  Passes  into  France  to  assist  the  Hu- 
guenots, 571. 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

ALVA'S  MILLENNIUM 572 

Renewed  Mediation  of  the  German  Emperor,  572;  Imperial 
Hypocrisy,  574;  A  Koyal  Alliance,  574;  Triumi^hant  Attitude 
of  Alva,  575  ;  Enforced  Festivities,  575  ;  The  Duke  erects  a 
"Brazen  Image,"  of  Himself,  576;  An  Historic  Parallel,  577; 
Imbroglio  with  England,  579;  Alva  crowned  by  the  Pojje  as 
Champion  of  Holy  Chiirch,  582;  Stringent  Measures  against 
Heresy,  582,  583 ;  Eeeords  of  Persecution,  584 ;  The  Martyr 
"Willemson,  584;  Emigration,  585;  Communication  with  the 
Refugees  forbidden,  586  ;  The  Press  put  nuder  Censorship, 
586;  A  Brave  Voice  from  Leyden,  587;  Impecuniosity  of  the 
Viceroy,  588;  Alva's  Financiering,  588;  Determines  to  estab- 
lish an  Arbitrary  Sj'stem  of  Taxation,  588 ;  Meeting  of  the 
States-General,  589 ;  The  Duke  demands  the  Hundredth,  Twen- 
tieth, and  Tenth  Pennies,  589,  590;  Protest  of  the  Deputies, 
590;  Viglius  hugs  His  Money-Bags,  591;  Bickering,  592;  The 
States-General  partially  agree  to  the  Taxes,  593;  Opposition  of 
Utrecht,  593;  Anger  of  Alva,  594;  Dragonnading,  594;  A  Com- 
promise, 595;  Philip's  Affianced  Bride  at  Brussels,  595;  The 
Duke  requests  His  Majestj^'s  Leave  to  attend  Her  to  Spain, 
refused,  595,  596;  An  Amnesty  proposed,  596;  A  Parddn  pro- 
claimed with  Pompous  Ceremony  at  Antwerp,  597,  598;  The 
Amnesty  Characterized,  598;  A  Flood,  599;  Between  the  Mill- 
Stones,  600. 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

PENNIES  AS  REVOLUTIONISTS - 601 

The  Foreign  Outlook,  601;  The  Status  of  England,  602;  The 
Ridolli  Plot  against  Elizabeth,  603 ;  The  Pope  excommuni- 
cates the  Maiden  Queen,  601;  Philip  countenances  the  Pro- 
posed Murder,  604;  Orders  Alva  to  cooperate,  604;  The  Duke's 
Opinion  of  the  Essay,  605 ;  Explosion  of  the  Plot,  605 ;  Chagrin 
of  the  King,  606;  Further  Efforts  to  compass  the  Assassination, 
606;  Orange  in  France,  606;  Returns  to  Germany,  607;  Deca- 
dence of  His  Fortunes,  607;  His  Christian  Resignation,  608; 
The  "Harangue,"  60S;  The  Reformed  Preachers  empowered 
to  collect  Contributions  in  Aid  of  the  Good  Cause,  608;  Their 


22  CONTENTS. 

Success,  GOD;  Peter  Boomgard,  609;  William  resolves  to  make 
the  Maritime  Provinces  His  Next  Scene  of  Action,  610;  Secret 
Correspondence  with  the  Chief  Men  of  the  North,  610;  Well- 
Carried  Plans,  Gil;  Komantic  Aet  of  De  Rnyter,  611,  C12;  The 
Prince  decides  to  issue  Privateering  Commissions,  613;  The 
"Water  Gueux,"  613;  Foundation  of  the  Duteh  Navy,  614; 
Alva  the  Unconscious  Ally  of  the  Prince,  G15;  Reopening  of 
the  Taxation  Question,  616;  Vigliiis  Still  in  Opposition,  GIG; 
The  Duke  decrees  the  Collection  of  the  Hundredth,  Twentieth, 
and  Tenth  Pennies,  GIG;  Violent  Opposition  of  the  Provinces, 
616;  Medina  Coeli  sent  to  supersede  Alva,  617  ;  This  News 
causes  a  General  Revolt  against  the  Taxes,  G17;  Grinding  Con- 
cessions, 617;  Alva's  Correspondence  with  the  King,  618;  A 
Spanish  Ambassador's  Opinion  of  the  Situation,  618;  The  King 
perplexed,  619;  Alva  attempts  to  levy  the  Taxes  in  Brussels, 
619;  Universal  Suspension  of  Business,  619;  Rage  of  the  Vice- 
roy, 620;  Orders  the  Execution  of  Eighteen  Tradesmen,  620; 
The  Tragedy  postponed  by  a  Report  of  the  Taking  of  Brille,  621. 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE  RISING -  622 

The  Count  de  la  Marck,  622;  His  Inability  to  distinguish  be- 
tween Meum  and  Tuum,  622;  Draws  on  the  Patriot  Navj'^  the 
Hostility  of  the  European  States,  623;  The  Buccanier  Admiral 
at  Anchor  in  Dover,  G23;  Alva  gets  Elizabeth  to  expel  the  Beg- 
gars of  the  Sea  from  Her  Harbors,  623;  De  la  Marck  sets  Sail, 
623^  The  Descent  on  Brille,  621;  The  Ferryman  Envoy,  G24; 
The  Place  escaladed,  625;  Revels  of  the  Gueux,  62.5;  Alva's 
Chagrin,  626;  Sends  Bossu  to  retake  Brille,  G2G;  The  Rejiulse, 
627;  The  Townsfolk  take  the  Oath  to  Orange,  G28 ;  Bossu's 
Treachery  at  Rotterdam,  628;  Revolt  of  the  Maritime  Provin- 
ces, 629;  Squibs  and  Witticisms,  629;  Flushing  revolutionized, 
G30;  Spread  of  the  Insurrection,  631;  English  Volunteers  cross 
to  Zealand,  632  ;  The  Iconomachy  Redivivus,  632 ;  Honorable 
Stipulations,  633;  The  Ballot  supplements  the  Rising,  633;  Sa- 
noy  ai^pointed  Depiity  Stadtholder  of  Holland,  by  AVilliam, 
631;  Tolerant  Wisdom  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  634;  Means  and 
Results,  635. 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

TRIUMPHS  ON  THIS  SIDE  AND  ON  THAT  --   G36 

William  raid  Count  Louis,   636;  Policy  of  the  Fi-ench  Court, 
636;  The  Huguenots  cajoled,  638;  Alarm  of  His  Holiness,  638; 


CONTENTS.  23 

Charles  IX.  aud  Coligny,  630;  Charles  IX.  and  Nassau,  640; 
Sagacity  at  Fault,  640;  Couut  Louis  surprises  Mons,  641,  642; 
Effects  of  the  News  ou  Alva,  643;  Spanish  Thorns  and  Tuscan 
Lilies,  644 ;  The  Viceroy  is  doubtful  where  to  begin  the  Kecon- 
quest  of  the  Provinces,  644  ;  Decides  to  open  the  Campaign 
with  the  Siege  of  Mons,  644;  The  Duke  of  Medina  Coeli  in  the 
Mouth  of  the  Scheldt,  615;  Destruction  of  His  Fleet  off  Flush- 
ing, 645;  Narrow  Escape  of  the  New  Viceroy,  646;  Suspends 
His  Commission  in  Favor  of  Alva,  646;  Empty  Courtesies,  646; 
Medina  Coeli  returns  to  Spain,  646;  Alva  holds  out  the  Olive- 
Branch  Vainly,  646,  647;  Assembly  of  the  Estates  of  Holland 
at  Dort  in  the  Interests  of  Orange,  647 ;  Their  Eesolute  Action, 
647;  Enthusiasmof  the  People,  649;  Mons  invested,  650;  Posi- 
tion of  Count  Louis  in  the  Town,  650;  De  Geulis  advances  to 
His  Aid,  651 ;  Total  Defeat  of  the  French  Contingent,  651 ;  Pious 
Eejoicings  of  the  Royalists,  652;  Alva  arrives  in  Camp,  652; 
Efforts  and  Counter  Efforts,  653;  The  Liberator's  New  Cam- 
paign, 653;  Incidents  of  His  Advance,  653.  654;  The  Two 
Armies  Face  to  Face,  655;  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  656; 
The  Hilarity  at  Eome,  657;  Extravagant  Joy  of  Philip  II.,  657; 
Orders  Alva  to  kill  all  French  Prisoners,  658;  Effect  of  the 
News  in  Great  Britain,  658;  Orange  "Struck  as  with  a  Sledge- 
Hammer,"  659;  Throws  do-mi  the  Gauntlet  to  Alva,  660;  The 
Duke's  Wai-y  Tactics,  660;  The  Prince  forced  to  decamp,  661; 
Mutiny  and  Dissolution  of  His  Army,  661;  The  Resolution, 
661;  Surrender  of  Mons,  661;  Noircarmes  in  Mons,  662;  Sack 
of  Mechlin,  663;  Alva  justifies  the  Deed,  664. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

SCENES  OF  HOEROE .- C65 

Orange  in  Holland,  665;  At  Work,  665;  Meeting  of  the  Estates 
at  Haarlem,  666;  In  Counsel,  666;  WiUiam's  Faith,  667;  Affairs 
in  Zealand,  667;  Patriots  lay  Siege  to  Middleburg,  668;  Its 
Clever  Defence,  668;  'T  Zeraerts  besieges  Turgoes,  669;  Roy- 
ahst  Plan  for  Its  Eehef,  669;  Brilliant  Expedition  of  Mondra- 
gone  over  the  "Drowned  Land,"  670;  The  Denouement,  672; 
Zirickzee  emancipates  Itself,  672;  March  of  the  Spaniard  into 
Holland,  672;  Don  Frederick's  Circuit,  672,  673;  Massacre  of 
Zutphen,  674;  Its  Effect  in  the  Northeast,  674;  Naarden,  675; 
Attempts  to  resist  the  Invaders,  675 ;  Subsequent  Endeavor  to 
capitulate,  676;  Romero's  Pledge,  676;  The  Feast,  677;  Treach- 
ery, 677;  Pillage  of  the  City,  678;  Individual  Cases,  679;  Naar- 
den in  Ruins,  680;  Alva  endorses  the  Massacre,  680. 


24  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
HEROISM - CSl 

Resolute  Despair  of  Holland  aud  Zealand,  G81;  Isolation,  681; 
Amsterdam  adheres  to  Spain,  CSl;  Auto  da  Fe  in  the  City 
Square,  6S2;  Alva  in  Amsterdam,  682;  Determines  to  reduce 
Haarlem,  682;  Why,  G82;  The  Citizen  Deputies,  683;  Ripper- 
da's  Speech,  683;  Haarlem  determines  to  resist,  684;  Decisive 
Acts,  68-1;  Orange  promises  his  Aid,  684;  A  Battle  on  the  Ice, 
685;  Commencement  of  the  Siege  of  Haarlem,  685;  Topography 
of  the  Vicinage,  686;  Numbers  of  Besiegers  aud  Besieged,  686, 
687;  Spaniards  take  the  Fort  of  Sparendam,  688;  Defeat  of  a 
Relieving  Force  under  Command  of  De  la  Marck,  688 ;  The 
First  Assault;  repulsed,  689;  Activity  of  Orange,  690;  Defeat  of 
Bateuburg,  691;  Ghastly  Pleasantries,  691;  Mining  and  Coun- 
ter-mining, 691,  692;  The  Cross-gate,  692;  A  Slight  Relief,  693; 
The  Spaniard's  Second  Assault;  bloodily  repulsed,  694;  Toledo 
asks  Permission  to  raise  the  Leaguer,  694;  Alva's  Rebuke,  695; 
Change  of  Plan,  695;  Royalist  Fleet  on  Haarlem  Meer,  695;  A 
Patriot  Flotilla,  695;  Naval  Victory  of  the  Beleaguerer,  695; 
Frightful  Suffering  in  Haarlem,  696;  Sorties,  696;  The  Ama- 
zons, 696  ;  Starvation,  697  ;  Elforts  of  Orange,  698  ;  Grand 
Attempt  to  relieve  the  Place;  defeated,  699;  Despair  of  the  Cit- 
izens, 699  ;  An  Heroic  Project,  699  ;  The  Surrender,  699 ;  A 
Thorough  Massacre,  700;  Cost  of  the  Victory,  700. 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

THE  PATRIOT  HORIZON  BRIGHTENS 701 

A  Calculation,  701;  The  Duke's  Monitory  Circular,  702;  The 
Hollanders  Incorrigible,  702;  Meeting  of  the  Spanish  Troops, 
702;  Finally  quelled,  703;  Patriots  occupy  the  Interval  in  com- 
posing the  Poi^ular  Fear,  703;  Serenity  of  Orange,  703;  His 
Letter  to  Count  Louis,  703;  An  Enthusiastic  Appeal,  704;  Re- 
sponse of  the  Masses,  705;  Siege  of  Alckmaar,  705;  A  Foiled 
Escalade,  706;  The  Beleaguerer  driven  off  by  the  Oldening  of 
the  Sluices,  709;  Naval  Victory  of  the  Dutch  on  the  Zuyder- 
Zee,  710  ;  Solemn  Thanksgiving  observed  throiigh  Holland, 
707;  "Wry  Face  of  the  Viceroy,  711;  Bossu  and  St.  Aldegonde, 
712;  Alva  convenes  the  States-General  of  the  Netherlands,  aud 
demands  a  Subsidy,  712;  Counter  ApjDeal  of  the  Prince  of  Or- 
ange, 712;  His  Partial  Success,  713;  The  "Epistle,"  714;  Will- 
iam joins  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  at  Dort,  714;  Attitude 
of  Alva,  715;  His  "New  Way  to  pay  Old  Debts,"  715;  Reque- 
sens  sent  to  supersede  Him,  716;  Alva  retires  from  the  Low 
Countries,  716;  Review  of  His  Administration,  717-719. 


CONTENTS.  25 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
THE  GRAND  COMMANDER  OF  ST.  lAGO 720 

The  New  Governor-Geueral,  720;  His  Reception  at  Brussels, 
720 ;  "S\Tiispers,  721 ;  The  Cue  of  Requeseus,  721  ;  Poi^ular 
Measures,  721;  The  Viceroy's  Diagnosis  of  the  Netherland  Dis- 
ease, 722;  Mondragoue  reduced  to  Extremities  at  Middleburg, 
723;  Expedition  to  relieve  Him,  723;  Defeat  of  Requesens' 
Armada,  724;  Middleburg  capitulates,  724;  The  whole  Island 
of  Walcheren  acquired  thereby,  725;  Invincibility  of  the  Beg- 
gars of  the  Sea,  726;  Inferiority  of  the  Dutch  to  the  Spaniards 
on  the  Land,  72C;  Orange  renews  Diplomatic  Relations  with 
France,  727;  Help  traded  for  Help,  728;  Count  Louis  begins  to 
recruit  in  Germany,  728;  His  Advance,  728;  Plan  of  Campaign, 
729;  Ccrunter  Preparations  of  Requesens,  729;  Count  Louis 
foiled,  730;  The  Hostile  Armies  meet  at  Mookheath,  730;  The 
Battle,  731;  The  Rout,  731;  Fall  of  Duke  Christopher,  Henry 
Nassau,  and  Count  Louis,  731;  Character  of  Louis  Nassau,  732; 
A  "Widow's  Tears,  733;  Mutiny  of  the  Spaniards  after  the  Fight, 
733;  Antwerp  occiipied  by  the  Mutineers,  734;  They  gluttonize 
and  guzzle  at  Free  Quarters,  734;  The  Emeute  composed,  734; 
Requesens  accused  of  countenancing  It,  735;  Boisot's  Triumph 
in  the  Scheldt,  735;  PhiHp  equips  an  Ai-mada  for  the  Subjuga- 
tion of  Zealand,  736;  The  Zealanders  prepare  to  defend  Their 
Archipelago,  73G;  A  Plague  stays  the  Spanish  Fleet,  737;  Re- 
quesens administers  His  Panacea,  737;  His  Amnesty  scouted 
by  the  Netherlanders,  738. 

CHAPTER  XL. 
"FAITHFUL  UNTO  DEATH" - --  739 

Leyden,  Its  Beauty  and  Importance,  739;  Valdez  lays  siege  to 
It  by  Alva's  Order,  740;  Called  off  to  defend  the  Frontier  against 
Count  Loiiis,  740;  The  Return  of  Valdez,  and  Renewed  Siege  of 
the  City,  740;  His  Plan  of  Operations,  740;  Culpable  Neglect 
of  the  Citizens  to  Provision  the  Town,  740;  Heroic  Determina- 
tion to  stand  out  the  Leaguer,  741;  John  Van  der  Does,  741; 
Parleyings,  742;  Orange  encourages  the  Citizens,  742;  Despe- 
rate Sorties,  742;  Want  begins  to  make  Itself  felt  in  Leyden, 
743;  AVilliam's  Project  for  Rehef,  by  innundating  Rhj'uland, 
743;  Hesitation  of  the  States,  744;  The  Doubters  convinced, 
744;  Opening  of  the  Sluices,  744;  Magnanimity  of  the  People, 
744;  Exertions  for  the  Relief  of  Leyden  paralyzed  by  the  Dan- 
gerous Sickness  of  the  Prince,  744;  Convalescence,  745;  The 
Work  resumed,  745;  Rise  of  the  Water,  745;  The  Wild  Zealand- 
ers, 745;  The  Patriot  Flotilla  launched  on  the  Extemporized 

Dutch  Ret  2 


26  CONTENTS. 

Sea,  745;  Aground,  74G;  Frightful  Sufferings  of  the  Besieged, 
746;  The  Plague  clasps  Hands  with  Famine,  747;  Taiiuts,  747; 
Van  der  Werf's  Offer,  747;  The  Defiance,  748;  The  Spaniard 
becomes  Uneasy,  748 ;  The  "Wind  shifts,  749  ;  Boisot  Afloat 
again,  749;  Amphibious  Battles,  749;  The  Last  Obstacles.  749; 
Midnight  Combats,  749;  Flight  of  the  Spaniards,  750;  Deliver- 
ance, 750;  Scenes  in  the  City,  751;  Thanksgiving,  751;  William 
informed  of  the  Succor,  751;  Crosses  to  Leyden,  751;  The  Re- 
ward of  Merit,  752;  Two  Incidents,  752;  Foundation  of  the 
University  of  Leyden,  752. 

■     CHAPTER  XLI. 

DIPLOMATIC  "PEACTICE" 754 

A  Fencing  Match  between  the  Diplomats,  754;  St.  Aldegonde's 
Mission,  754;  Conditions  precedent  to  a  Pacification,  jorescribed 
by  the  Eevolted  States,  755;  Rejected  by  Eequesens,  755;  Re- 
newed Negotiations,  756;  William  and  His  Tempter,  756;  Brave 
Words,  756;  Universal  Wish  for  Peace,  757;  What  Orange  un- 
derstood by  the  Word,  757;  Philip's  Idea,  757;  Maximilian 
again  proffers  His  Mediation,  758;  Peace  Congress  at  Breda, 
758,  759;  Proposition  of  the  Dutch  Deputies,  759;  Response 
of  the  Royal  Envoys,  759;  The  See-saw  of- Parties,  760;  Angry 
and  Indecisive  Adjournment  of  the  Congress,  760;  The  Confer- 
ence justifies  the  Patriot  Cause  at  the  Bar  of  Europe,  760; 
Other  Gains,  760;  Union  of  Holland  and  Zealand  under  tha 
Stadtholderate  of  Orange,  761;  Evangelical  Religion  becomes 
Lawful,  762  ;  Romanism  temporarily  suppressed  under  Mar- 
tial Law,  762;  Reasons,  762;  The  Suppression  merely  Nominal, 
763;  Sonoy  imitates  Juan  Vargas,  763;  Orange  breaks  up  His 
Protestant  Inquisition,  763;  William  and  the  Estates  decide  to 
proffer  the  Sovereignty  of  Holland  and  Zealand  to  some  Friend- 
ly Power,  764;  Philip  deposed,  764;  Question  of  the  Succes- 
sion, 765;  A  Union  with  England  esteemed  most  Desirable, 
765;  Embassy  to  Elizabeth,  766;  She  coquettes,  766;  Sub.stan- 
tial  Failure  of  the  Mission,  766;  The  Designs  of  Requesens,  7416; 
Success  of  the  Gueux  at  Sea,  767;  A  Submarine  Project,  767; 
Expedition  to  recover  the  Island  of  Schouwen,  768;  A  Brilliant 
Feat  of  Arms,  770,  771;  Siege  of  Zierickzee,  772;  Chagrin  of 
Orange,  772;  Sublime  Resolution,  772;  Death  of  Requesens,  773. 

CHAPTER  XLII. 
THE  GHENT  PACIFICATION 774 

The  Council  of  State  at  Brussels  assume  the  Government  pend- 
ing the  King's  Nomination  of  another  Viceroy,  774;  The  Coun- 


CONTENTS.  27 

cillors  prosecute  Eequesens'  Plan  of  Operations,  775;  Continued 
Leaguer  of  Zierickzee,  775 ;  Efforts  of  Orange  to  relieve  the  Town, 
775;  Death  of  Boisot,  776;  Surrender  of  Zierickzee,  77G;  Mutiny 
of  Mondragone's  Veterans,  776  ;  The  Mutineers  swarm  into 
Brabant,  777;  Alarming  Spread  of  the  Mutiny,  778;  The  Masses 
take  Arms  for  Self-defence,  778 ;  The  Soldiery  banned,  778  ; 
Movements  of  the  Prince,  779;  The  Situation  in  Holland  and 
Zealand,  780;  A  Financial  Antithesis,  781;  Watchful  William, 
782 ;  Puts  Himself  in  Communication  with  the  Patriots  in  the 
Belgic  Provinces,  782;  The  Councillors  in  Duress,  783;  Two 
Claimants  of  Authority,  78J:;  Meeting  of  the  Inter-Provincial 
Congress  at  Ghent,  784;  Siege  of  the  Castle  of  Ghent,  784; 
Activity  of  the  Brigands,  784;  Sack  of  Maestricht,  784;  "Span- 
ish Fury"  at  Antwerp,  785;  The  "Pacification  of  Ghent,"  787; 
Act  characterized,  788;  Taking  of  Ghent  Citadel,  789;  Recov- 
ery of  Zierickzee,  789;  Arrival  of  Don  John  of  Austria,  the  New 
Governor-General,  789. 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 

PRAISE  GOD 790 

The  Hero  of  Lepanto,  790;  Double  Meaning  of  His  Ai^point- 
meut,  791;  Instructions,  791;  Api^rizes  the  States-General  of 
His  Arrival,  792;  Perplexity  of  the  States-General,  792;  Apply 
to  Orange  for  Advice,  792;  The  Prince's  Letter,  792;  Prelimi- 
nary Negotiations  with  Don  John,  793;  Foreign  Alliance  solicit- 
ed, 793;  Attitude  of  Elizabeth,  793;  Union  of  Brussels,  794; 
The  Council  of  State  and  the  Doctors  of  Louvain  on  the  Ghent 
Treaty,  796;  Resumi^tion  of  the  Negotiations  with  Don  John, 
794;  He  accedes  to  the  Ultimatum  of  the  States,  795;  A  Pro- 
viso; granted  and  withdraw^l,  795;  The  "Perpetual  Edict," 
795;  Approval  by  Philip,  795;  AVords  of  Warning,  79 G;  Depart- 
ure of  the  Spanish  Soldierj^,  796;  Don  John  in  Brussels,  797; 
Demise  of  Viglius,  797;  Affairs  in  the  Maritime  Provinces,  798; 
Tour  of  Orange,  798;  Treacherous  Conduct  of  Don  John,  799; 
A  Crisis,  799;  An  Open  Breach,  800;  Quill-driving,  800;  The 
Intercepted  Letter,  801;  Preparations  for  War,  801;  Expulsion 
of  the  Germans,  801 ;  '•  The  Jingling  of  the  Guinea  heals  the 
Hurt  that  Henor  feels,"  801;  Razing  of  the  Citadels,  802;  Or- 
ange invited  to  Brussels,  802;  The  "Gallows  Journey,"  802, 
State  of  Parties,  802;  Aerschot's  Plot,  803;  Archduke  Matthias, 
803;  William's  Adroitness,  804;  An  £meute  at  Ghent,  805;  Elec- 
tion of  Orange  to  the  Dignity  of  Ruward,  806;  "Nearer  Union 
of  Brussels,"  806;  The  "Justification,"  806;  Embassy  to  Eng- 
land, 800;  An  Alliance  with  Elizabeth,  807;  Matthias  enters 


28  CONTENTS. 

the  Capital,  807;  Orange  made  Lieutenant-Governor  of  tlia 
Netherlands,  807;  Don  John  at  Namiir,  807;  Alexander  Farnese 
leads  the  Spanish  Kegiments  back  from  Italj',  808;  The  New 
Crusade,  808;  Pious  Motives,  808;  A  Eoyal  Decree,  808;  Army 
of  the  States,  808;  Battle  of  Gemblours,  809;  Accession  of  Am- 
sterdam to  the  Patriot  Cause,  810;  The  States'  Army  remod- 
elled, 810;  Affair  at  EjTnenant,-810;  Disordered  Condition  of 
the  Provinces,  810;  The  "Religious  Peace,"  811;  William  de- 
nounced, 811;  Discord,  811;  Prince  Casimir  leads  the  English 
Contingent  into  the  Low  Countries,  812 ;  D'Alen§on  invited 
into  the  States,  812;  The  Abnormal  Situation,  813;  Death  of 
Don  John  of  Austria,  813;  Departure  of  D'Alen§on  and  Casi- 
mir, 813;  Fresh  Complications,  813;  Farnese's  Ducat  Argu- 
ments, 814;  Defection  of  the  Walloon  Provinces,  Sl-l;  Elements 
of  Disunion,  815;  William  weaves  the  Web  of  a  New  Confed- 
eracy, 815;  The  Union  of  Utrecht,  816;  Birth  of  the  Dutch 
Eepublic,  S17;  The  Reformation  guaranteed,  817;  a  Summary, 
817-823. 


THE 

DUTCH  REFORMATION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    "DEBATABLE   LAND." 

There  is  a  gore  of  land  iu  the  extreme  north- 
western corner  of  Europe  which  juts  out  into  the 
German  ocean,  and  seems,  like  Venus,  to  have  just 
risen  fresh  and  blooming  from  the  sea-foam.  In- 
deed, it  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  arisen  from  the 
waves,  for  it  is  all  afloat.  The  land  is  full  of  lakes,  or 
the  lakes  are  full  of  land — you  may  phrase  it  wliich 
way  you  please.  'T  is  an  amphibious  country  :  its 
legs  are  water ;  its  body  is  a  spongy  soil ;  its  arms 
are  ships  ;  its  veins  are  canals ;  its  eyes  are  schools 
and  churches;  its  crown  is  liberty — for  though  of 
late  years  it  has  had  a  king,  he  is  but  a  name,  and 
the  state  is  in  fact  as  free  as  Switzerland. 

Holland  is  the  modern  sphynx ;  everything 
about  it  is  unique  and  unprecedented.  Nothing 
could  be  more  prosaic  than  a  sail  along  its  long, 
low,  sandy  coast,  which  hugs  the  sea  so  closely  that 


30  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

you  cannot  see  it  until  you  are  within  a  stone's  toss.  ■ 
But,  once  landed,  nothing  could  be  more  bewilder- 
ing, strange,  and  picturesque  than  the  buoyant, 
breathing,  thrifty  landscape  which  salutes  you.  You 
seem  to  have  entered  an  enchanted  garden.  Canals, 
spanned  by  ten  thousand  bridges,  creep  with  their 
sluggish  waters  before  and  behind,  to  the  right 
and  to  the  left,  interlacing  the  whole  scene.  The 
smooth,  clean  roads  are  embroidered  with  willows, 
and  gemmed  with  beautiful  suburban  villas.  Teem- 
ing cities  and  thriving  villages — the  wealthiest 
towns  of  continental  Europe — -vivify  and  humanize 
the  landscape.  The  laughter  of  trade  is  heard. 
The  commerce  of  two  hemispheres  crowds  the  har- 
bors. The  land  seems  bursting  with  prosperity. 
Here  runs  a  river,  floating  a  flock  of  boats  to  mar- 
ket; there  a  church-steeple  peers  and  beckons; 
yonder  stands  a  group  of  happy  citizens,  chatting, 
and  motioning  to  a  canal-boat  captain  to  .pause 
and  take  them  on  board;  and  beyond  looms  a  sen- 
tinel windmill,  scooping  up  the  ever-encroaching 
water  with  its  tireless  fingers,  waging  its  never- 
ending  combat  with  the  complaining  sea,  spoiled  of 
its  rights. 

That  plain  which  touches  France  on  one  side 
and  Prussia  on  the  other,  shelves  towards  the  north- 
west, and  ends  in  a  marsh.  Here  sits  Holland— a 
made  countr}',  a  land  of  art.  It  is  simply  an  allu- 
vial deposit,  Avashed  by  the  Rhine  and  its  tributa- 
ries from  the  Alpine  regions  of  the  interior — mud, 
sinking  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea  and  rising  with  the 


THE    "DEBATABLE  LAND."  31 

gradual  accumulations  of  ages  into  arid  sandbanks, 
which  the  skill  and  grim  persistence  of  the  Hol- 
lander have  transformed  into  fat  and  fertile  pas- 
tures. Much  of  the  laud  lies  lower  than  iilie  ocean 
level.  At  such  points  artificial  dykes  have  been 
constructed  and  laced  with  willows,  to  bar  the  out- 
witted sea. 

The  coast  being  thus  secured,  the  Hollander 
next  begins  to  pump  out  his  half-submerged  coun- 
tr}-;  and  he  realizes  dry  ground  by  raising  low, 
green  mounds  in  all  directions  across  the  morass, 
so  as  to  enclose  sections  or  fields,  which  may  be 
cleared  by  the  individual  proprietors.  Each  of 
these  leaky  enclosures  has  wet  ditches  cut  all 
around  it  and  through  its  centre;  then,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  drawing  off  the  water  and  keeping  it  in 
subjection,  windmills  are  stationed  to  work  pumps ; 
and  these,  set  in  motion  by  the  wind,  drain  the  soil, 
and  send  the  reluctant  water  in  channels  along  the 
tops  of  the  dykes  to  the  main  canals,  which  inter- 
sect the  country  on  a  level  with  the  sea;  while  the 
Dutchman  rests  in  peace,  knowing  that  "Father- 
land "  is  made  safer  by  the  passage  of  each  breeze. 
At  times  man  has  been  momentarily  beaten  in  this 
terrific  conflict  between  human  intelligence  and  the 
blind  force  of  the  elements;  then,  surging  over  these 
frail  barriers,  the  jubilant  sea  has  roared  and  tum- 
bled, swamping  villages,  and  drowning  in  an  hour 
the  toilsome  acquisitions  of  long  centuries. 

The  whole  country  is  a  dead  level,  broken  only 
by  an  occasional  mound  of  sand;  but  it  is  so  cun- 


32  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

ningly  filled  up  and  variegated,  so  brimful  of  odd 
sights,  that  it  is  impossible  to  call  it  monotonous. 
From  any  point  it  is  possible  to  command  a  pic- 
turesque cou'p  d'ceil.  If  we  were  in  Amsterdam,  by 
ascending  to  the  dome  of  the  Stadt-house,  we  might 
gaze  uj)on  a  highly-finished  and  curious  picture, 
rich  with  the  fragrancy  of  meadows  and  the  beauty 
of  the  abounding  flower-gardens ;  or,  if  we  stood  in 
Eotterdam,  we  might  ascend  a  lofty  tower,  and  look 
down  upon  the  buzzing  city,  and  glance  off  to  the 
country  beyond — a  delightful  background,  cultiva- 
ted like  a  continued  garden,  and  stretching  away 
to  the  misty  horizon. 

Looking  southward  across  the  city,  we  should 
perceive  the  river  Maas  winding  majestically  on- 
wards to  the  sea,  with  the  rich  plains  of  Isselmonde 
on  the  opposite  side,  and  the  towering  dome  of  the 
old  church  at  Dort  in  the  distance.  Turning  tow- 
ards the  northwest,  we  might  see  the  sea-bordered 
territory  of  Holland  si3read  out  as  Tar  as  the  human 
eye  could  reach.  The  steeples  of  the  towns  of  Schie- 
dam and  Delft  would  seem  quite  at  hand ;  while  the 
spires  of  the  Hague,  more  distant,  might  be  dis- 
cerned rising  above  the  mass  of  trees  which  veil  the 
horizon.  Gouda  lies  more  in  a  southerly  direction; 
while  innumerable  little  villages,  sprinkled  over  the 
scene,  and  hundreds  of  windmills  revolving  in  every 
direction,  would  serve  to  decorate  and  animate  the 
landscape.  Everywhere  we  should  see  water;  and 
then  the  land,  so  singularly  flat,  yet  so  rich  and 
pastoral,  would  be  flecked   here   and  there  with 


THE   "DEBATABLE  LAND."  33 

straggling  herds  of  those  beautifully  spotted  cattle 
which  Paul  Potter  loved  so  well  to  paint.* 

But  the  most  wonderful  feature  of  this  marvel- 
lous country  is  its  history.  Springing  from  a  few 
fisher-boats  on  a  dreary  coast,  it  grew  gradually 
stronger,  in  arms,  in  intelligence,  in  wealth,  until  it 
would  brook  no  superior  by  land  and  could  have 
none  by  sea.  The  Hollander  first  created  his  "  Fa- 
therland," and  then,  standing  on  piles,  conjured 
modern  commerce  into  being.  With  territory  just 
wide  enough  to  give  him  elbow-room,  he  monopo- 
lized for  centuries  the  trade  of  the  world,  and  an- 
nexed continents  as  coffers  wherein  to  garner  his 
wealth,  patching  out  his  little  country  with  vast 
colonial  possessions,  until  he  held  a  principality 
greater  than  Christendom  before  had  known.  In 
the  darkest  ages  ho  was  the  merchant,  the  trader, 
the  manufacturer  of  Europe.  His  municipal  sys- 
tem was  the  germ  of  republicanism.  His  cities 
struck  the  key-note  of  civilization,  resuscitating  the 
industrial  arts,  and  bequeathing  to  mankind  that 
idea  of  union  which  begets  and  assures  liberty. 

For  a  thousand  years  the  Netherlands  t  were 
the  camping  gi-ound  of  Europe;  their  whole  exist- 
ence was  a  fight;  and  nobles  of  every  nationality 
sped  thither  to  flesh  their  maiden  swords  and  to 
win  their  spurs.     "  Mars,"  saj'S  Strada,  "  only  trav- 

*  Many  of  the  facts  above  cited,  and  some  bits  of  description, 
are  taken  from  "W.  Chambers'  Tour  in  Holland  in  1838 ;  London, 
1839  ;  and  from  an  old  volume,  entitled  "A  Tour  in  Holland,  by 
an  American  ;"  Worcester,  1790. 

t  From  the  Dutch,  Xeider  land,  under  land,  or  low  country, 
2* 


34  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

els  other  countries,  and  carries  about  a  running 
war,  but  here  he  seats  himself.  Beyond  poetic 
miracles,  we  have  not  only  fought  with  man,  but 
with  mighty  rivers ;  and  not  alone  Avitli  these,  but, 
breaking  the  cloister  of  the  sea,  we  have  challenged 
the  ocean  itself.  We  walk  upon  the  water  as  if  it 
were  firm  ground;  we  let  in  the  sea  to  make  the 
land  navigable,  fighting  in  both  elements  at  once."* 

But  it  was  in  the  sixteenth  century,  which  Schil- 
ler calls  "the  brightest  of  the  world's  epochs,"t  that 
the  Netherlands  played  the  sublimest  part.  The 
backbone  of  that  struggle  was  religion.  When 
France  was  rent  by  faction,  when  Germany  cow- 
ered, when  England  stood  lukewarm,  when  the  rest 
of  Europe  was  actively  hostile  to  reform,  Holland 
espoused  it — struck  the  tocsin  of  resistance  to  civil 
and  religious  tyranny.  The  gallant  little  territory 
collected  its  scattered  energies,  and  flung  its  whole 
being  into  the  spasm  of  its  effort.  It  was  humanity 
agonizing  for  its  noblest  rights ;  and  "  the  resources 
of  resolute  despair"  triumi^hed  in  this  unequal  con- 
test with  a  king  who  was  the  Crossus  of  modern 
times;  who  coined  his  gold  in  "either  Ind;"  who 
had  Spain  and  Germany  for  his  fulcrum;  whose 
anathema-maranatha  was  the  awful  malediction  of 
the  church  of  Rome. 

If  w^e  would  understand  effects,  we  must  study 
them  through  the  medium  of  causes.  Events,  hke 
Hebrew,  are  to  be  read  backwards.     A  cursory  r.e- 

s>  Stracla,  Hist,  of  the  Low  Coinitry  Wars.     London,  1C50. 
t  Schiller,  Hist,  of  the  Bevolt  of  the  Nethciiaucls. 


THE    "DEBATABLE  LAND."  35 

view  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  tlie  Netherlands 
before  the  dawn  of  the  second  birth  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  will  help  us  to  solve  the  riddle  of  that  age ; 
familiarize  us  Avith  the  mainsprings  of  Holland's 
action,  with  the  rationale  of  her  development,  with 
the  causes  of  her  revolution;  tell  us  why,  though 
Spain  wotn  battles  and  the  Dutch  Republic  lost 
them,  every  victory  brought  tyranny  only  nearer  to 
defeat;  how  Holland  was  snatched  half  drowned 
from  the  Netherlaud  morass,  and  girt  with  benefi- 
cent sovereignty ;  and  we  shall  learn  that  the  secret 
of  this  Samson's  strength  was  in  the  well-thumbed 
Bible. 

Our  earliest  glimpse  of  the  Netherlands  is  got- 
ten through  Roman  ej-es.  Half  a  century  before 
the  Christian  era,  Rome,  while  pushing  her  tri- 
umphal car  around  the  world,  stumbled  upon  these 
marshy  meadows,  and  paused  to  gather  the  reluc- 
tant inhabitants  into  her  heterogeneous  retinue  of 
conquest,  draggiug  them  into  histor3^ 

The  Low  Countries  were  then  a  huge  bog — "  a 
wide  morass,  in  which  oozy  islands  and  savage  for- 
ests were  interspersed  among  lagoons  and  shal- 
lows." This  misshapen  mudbank  was  born  of  three 
rivers,  the  Rhine,  the  Meuse,  and  the  Scheldt,  which 
had  been  for  ages  spitting  their  slimy  deposit 
among  the  dunes  and  sandbars  heaved  up  by  the 
ocean  about  their  mouths. 

It  is  impossible  to  portray  the  geography  of  the 
Low  Countries  at  the  period  of  the  Roman  inva- 
sion.     The  coasts  were  mere  slime-banks;  inland, 


36  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

trees  might  be  seeia,  but  they  were  rooted  in  a  soil 
so  marshy,  that  an  inundation  or  a  tempest  threw 
down  whole  forests;  and  these  are  still  sometimes 
discovered  imbedded  ten  feet  below  the  surface  of 
the  earth.*  The  sea  had  no  limits,  the  rivers  no 
beds  nor  banks,  the  earth  no  solidity,  and  there 
was  not  a  spot  of  ground  which  did  not  yield  be- 
neath human  footsteps.f 

Pliny  the  naturalist  once  visited  the  Nether- 
lands, and  he  has  left  us  a  dreary  portrait  of  their 
aspect.  "  There,"  he  says,  "  the  ocean  pours  in  its 
flood  tAvice  every  day,  and  produces  a  perpetual 
uncertainty  whether  the  country  may  be  consid- 
ered as  part  of  the  continent  or  of  the  sea.  The 
wretched  inhabitants  take  refuge  on  sand-hills  or 
in  little  huts,  which  they  construct  on  the  summits 
of  lofty  stakes,  whose  elevation  is  conformable  to 
that  of  the  highest  tides.  "When  the  sea  rises,  they 
appear  like  navigators ;  when  it  retires,  they  seem 
as  though  they  had  been  shipwrecked.  They  sub- 
sist on  the  fish  left  by  the  refluent  waters,  and 
which  they  catch  in  nets  formed  of  rushes  or  sea- 
weed. On  the  shore  is  neither  tree  nor  shrub.  The 
people  drink  rain-water ;  and  their  fuel  is  a  kind  of 
turf,  which  they  gather  and  form  with  the  hand."! 

In  geography  and  ethnography  the  Netherlands 
belong  partly  to  Gaul  and  partly  to  Germany.  The 
Belgian  provinces  stretch  out  the  right  hand  of  fel- 

•-•  Grattan,  Hist,  of  the  Netherlands,  p.  3. 
f  Eumenius,  Paneg.  Const.  Cas. 
t  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  16. 


THE    "DEBATABLE  LAND."  37 

lowship  to  the  Gallic  tribes ;  Holland  is  Saxon,  and 
the  Dutchman  is  the  nearest  blood  relative  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race.*  This  difference  of  race  was 
as  marked  eighteen  centuries  ago  as  it  is  to-day. 
Tacitus  noted  it ;  and  it  is  a  fact  which  has  colored 
the  whole  history  of  Europe. 

The  Celt  and  the  Saxon  were  alike  physically; 
they  were  equally  brave ;  and  the  Koman  annalists 
bear  the  most  glowing  testimony  to  their  valor.t 
But  in  their  social  customs  they  were  dissimilar, 
and  in  tlieir  theology  they  did  not  agree.  The 
Gaul  was  superstitious  and  priest-ridden;  he  wor- 
shipped a  thousand  blood-stained  deities.  The 
German  held  to  a  ^ugle  supreme,  almighty  God — • 
too  sublime  to  be  imaged,  too  infinite  to  be  enclosed 
in  earthly  temples,  visible  always  to  the  reverent 
eye  of  faith.  Such  is  the  Roman's  testimony  to  the 
lofty  conception  of  the  Saxon. :j:  And  such  were 
the  Netherlands  in  their  physical  aspect  and  in 
their  native  tribes,  when  Cfesar  essayed  to  leash 
them  to  his  car  of  conquest. 

*  Motlej',  Gibbon,  Iliime,  Grattan. 

\  See  Ca'sar's  Comm.  cTe  Bell.  Gall.   Anmi.  Marcel.,  15,  12,  1. 
Tacitus. 

±  Motley,  vol.  1,  j).  9. 


38  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

CHAPTEE  II. 

THE   NETHEELANDS  IN  EMBRYO. 

"When,  some  twoscore  years  before  Christ,  impe- 
rial Caesar,  having  subjugated  Celtic  Gaul,  paused 
to  wipe  the  perspiration  from  his  brow,  he  was  told 
that  the  warlike  tribes  to  the  northeast,  who  made 
their  lair  in  the  tangled  patches  of  the  Ardennes 
wood,  had  refused  to  accept  his  alliance  or  to 
implore  his  protection.  At  once  the  conqueror 
pushed  his  legions  into  the  Netiierlands.  Here  he 
w^as  met  bj  a  swarm  of  separate  tribes,  each  of 
which,  liowever,  was  allied  to  one  of  three  great 
nations  who  then  occupied  the  morass. 

The  district  which  stretches  from  the  Scheldt 
to  the  Ehine,  embracing  substantially  the  modern 
territory  of  Belgium,  was  inhabited  by  a  liard^^  race 
of  warriors — men  who  ranged  the  interminable  for- 
ests without  a  fixed  home,  indebted  to  rude  agri- 
culture and  the  chase  for  their  livelihood."  These 
were  the  Belgians. 

Beyond  the  Belgic  flats,  on  the  old  island  of 
Batavia,t  was  another  people,  the  Batavi,:]:  fierce 
even  beyond  their  savage  neighbors,  whose  occupa- 

*  Div.  Cass.  lib.  4.     CsEsar,  Comm.  de  Bell.  Gall, 
f  Tacitus,   cTe  Mar.    Ger.      The  name  comes  from   Bet-ana, 
"good  meadow." 

±  Ibid.  Grattan,  Motley. 


THE  NETHERLANDS  IN  EMBRYO.       39 

tion  was  also  war — a   race  wliicli   aforetime  had 
streamed  from  the  German  highlands.* 

Still  farther  north,  in  what  is  now  North  Hol- 
land, dwelt  yet  another  nation,  the  Frisians,  a 
nation  of  fishermen — of  nascent  traders,  uniting  the 
distinctive  qualities  of  merchants  and  navigators; 
moderate,  sincere,  slow  but  sure,  and  implacable 
in  anser,  when  once  aroused.  Their  more  south- 
ern  neighbors  were  more  inflammable,  quicker  to 
strike,  and  fiercer,  but  they  were  less  steady  and 
more  ambitious ;  for  they  were  rovers,  while  the 
fishermen  sat  contented  on  their  piles,  made  slow 
progress  towards  civilization,  thought  little  of  con- 
quest, and  gave  their  thoughte  chiefly  to  the  im- 
provement of  their  countrj-.t 

Like  the  Germans,  whose  blood  they  shared, 
the  Frisians  lodged  sovereignty  in  the  people — 
bnilt  it  upon  the  basis  of  individualism.  At  the 
full  of  the  moon  the  popular  assemblies  met  and 
legislated,  electing  their  chiefs  and  deciding  mooted 
points  of  policy.:]:  Almost  alone  among  barbarians, 
they  were  not  addicted  to  polygamy  ;§  and  among, 
them  there  were  .no  slaves  but  their  prisoners  of 
war,  and  a  few  unfortunates  who  had  gambled 
away  their  liberty  II — for  gambling,  one  of  the  most 
deep-rooted  and  pernicious  of  the  vices,  was  even 
then  the  curse  of  mankind,  and  as  much  in  vogue 

*  Pliny,  Berlier,  Prec.  de  rAncienne  Gaule. 

f  Grotius,  de  Antiquitate  Eeip.  Batav. 

X  Ibid.     Davies,  Hist,  of  Holland. 

§  Ibid.     Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  10.  ||  Ibid. 


40  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

in  the  Netlierlancl  marshes  as  in  the  civilized  haunts 
of  the  profligate  Romans.* 

Tlie  Belgians  and  the  Batavians  knew  nothing 
of  this  primitive  democracy.  Their  polity  recog- 
nized three  classes,  nobles,  priests,  and  pariahs ; 
and  CcTBsar  testifies  that  their  commonalty  were  all 
slaves.f  In  war,  the  nobles  led  their  retainers  to 
battle ;  in  peace,  the  Druids,  the  bloodiest  of  priest- 
hoods, governed. I 

These  were  the  races  whom  Caesar  had  come  to 
subdue.  They  defended  their  liberty  with  head- 
long valor;  but  discij^line  was  invincible,  and  the 
hapless  barbarians  could  only  die  sword  in  hand. 
Across  these  warm  corpses  stepped  the  grim  Ro- 
man, and  on  he  pushed,  gaining  now  by  his  arms 
and  now  by  his  arts,  until  eventually  he  either  con- 
quered all  opposition,  or  seduced  it  into  his  alii- 
auce.§  First,  the  Belgians  were  subdued  ;l!  then 
the  Batavians  submitted,  and  entering  the  Roman 
service,  became  the  most  renowned  cavalrymen  of 
the  empire,  often  clutching  victory  from  the  jaws  of 
^defeat.^  "  Others,"  says  Tacitus,  "  go  to  battle  ; 
these  go  to  war ;"  and  we  are  told  how  the  Da- 
cians  were  terrified  by  the  wild  courage  of  these 
untamed  horsemen,  as  they  saw  them  in  full  armor 
plunge  into  and  swim  across  the  Danube.** 

'~"  See  Davies,  vol.  1,  p.  13. 

t  Ca3sar,  de  Bell.  Gall. 

t  llotlej',  vol.  1,  p.  8.     Grattan,  Davies. 

§  Co3sar,  de  Bell.  Gall.     Tacitus,  de  Mar,  etc.,  cap.  29. 

II  Ibid.  If  Tacitus,  Hist. 

**  Schiller,  llibt.  of  the  Eevolt  of  the  NetbcrlaudH,  p.  2. 


THE  NETHEELANDS  IN  EMBRYO.       41 

The  Frisians  attracted  attention  later,  and  the 
bogs  among  whicli  they  dwelt  enhanced  the  pwce 
of  conquest.  But  at  last  they  too  yielded,  and 
their  country  was  made  the  pedestal  of  farther  con- 
quest ;  for  "  the  Eoman  Darsus,  warring  in  these 
swamps,  cut  a  canal  from  the  Ehine  into  the  Flevo — 
now  merged  in  the  Zuyder  Zee — through  which  the 
imperial  fleet  penetrated  into  the  German  ocean, 
and  thence,  entering  the  mouths  of  the  Ems  and 
the  Weser,  found  an  easy  passage  into  the  interior 
of  Germany."* 

Now,  for  a  time,  the  Netherlands  were  united 
in  their  servitude  to  Rome,  and  the  old  Belgic 
tumults  were  pacified  in  a  gilded  slavery.  At  once 
a  metamorphosis  commenced.  The  cunning  con- 
querors began  to  eradicate  all  feelings  of  national- 
ity in  the  victim  races.  They  dazzled  their  rude 
auxiliaries  with  the  -splendor  of  their  capital, 
encouraged  them  to  identify  themselves  with  the 
world's  masters,  gave  them  Komau  names,  ener- 
vated them  by  initiating  them  into  dissolute  cus- 
toms ;  and  thus  the  young  Netherland  adventurers 
returned,  after  twenty  years'  service  under  the 
imperial  eagles,  and  walked  their  native  wilds  with 
Koman  hearts  and  tastes.  Gradually  the  forests  of 
the  Ardennes  were  pierced  with  highways  and 
cleared  for  towns;  and  these  innovations  completed 
the  amalgamation  of  the  allies;  nationality  was 
obliterated,  or  merged  in  the  all-devouring  epithet, 
"Eoman."  The  Belgians  began  to  borrow  the 
•-"  Scliiller,  Hist,  of  the  llevolt  of  the  Netherlands,  p.  2. 


42  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

usages  and  to  ape  the  maimers  of  Italy,  and  they 
finished  by  speakmg  Latin.* 

The  Batavians  did  indeed  make  one  expiring 
effort  to  preserve  their  nationahty  as  they  saw  it 
fading  from  history.  Claudius  Civihs,  a  Bataviau 
soldier  of  fortune,  who  had  studied  war  under  the 
Koman  eagles,  is  the  phantom  who  flashes  as  the 
hero  of  this  revolt.  The  confederacy  was  at  first 
successful;  the  pillars  of  the  prison-house  began  to 
totter  ;  a  commonwealth  was  well-nigh  cemented  by 
the  courage  and  talent  and  eloquence  of  a  single 
chieftain.  But  reverses  followed  ;  the  frail  confed- 
eracy fell  apart  like  a  rope  of  sand ;  the  lowland 
mate  of  the  German  Arminius  saAv  that  his  cause 
Avas  shipwrecked,  and  held  out  only  to  coerce  hon- 
orable terms ;  these  were  granted,  and  the  Batavi- 
ans once  more  became  the  allies  of  Kome  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  first  Christian  centuryf — an  alli- 
ance which  proved  fatal  to  their  existence.  They 
became  rapidly  degenerate ;  and  when,  a  hundred 
and  fifty  years  later,  the  Franks  overran  their 
island,  they  said  with  a  jeer :  "  The  Batavians  are 
not  a  nation ;  they  are  only  a  prey.":}: 

But  this  transformation  was  confined  to  the 
Belgic  provinces — did  not  cross  the  Bhine.  Isola- 
ted by  their  position,  the  Frisians  were  not  corrupt- 
ed by  the  Bomans.  They  were  of  the  Saxon  race — 
a  blood  of  unconquerable  vitality,  giving,  not  taking 

«  Grattaii,  Hist,  of  the  Netherlands,  p.  9.     Des  Roches,  Hist, 
de  la  Belgique. 

t  Tacitus,  Motlej',  etc.  J  Tacitus,  lib.  4. 


THE  NETHEELANDS  IN  EMBRYO.       43 

its  color.  So  the  Frisian  made  an  obeisance  to 
the  victorious  eagles  of  the  emph^e,  and  there  stop- 
ped ;  he  never  intermarried  with  his  conquerors ; 
he  despised  the  super-refinement  of  the  Sybarite 
Italians,  and 

"Left  to  the  soft  Campauiau 
His  baths  and  his  perfumes  ; 

he  hugged  the  memory  of  his  murdered  liberty;  he 
clung  with  fidelity  to  his  ancient  customs;  he  ad- 
hered to  his  language  with  religious  care ;  he  stood 
aloof  from  the  Koman  ranks;  he  rejected  the  titles 
and  distinctions  for  which  others  bartered  inde- 
pendence; he  asked  no  favors,  and  trusted  solely 
to  industry  for  support,  educating  himself  through 
the  stomach,  by  an  incessant  contest  with  famine 
and  the  sea ;  and,  spite  of  its  original  unattractive- 
uess,  as  the  Switzer  loves  his  icy  crags,  so  the  Fris- 
ian adored  his  boggy  "Fatherland." 

The  Frisians  of  the  age  of  Tiberius  and  Ves- 
pasian differed  little  from  their  fathers,  who, 
perch-ed  on  their  high-built  huts,  fed  on  fish  and 
drank  the  water  of  the  clouds.  Slow  and  successive 
improvements  had  taught  them  to  cultivate  beans, 
which  grew  wild  among  the  marshes,  and  to  tend 
and  feed  a  small,  degenerate  kind  of  horned  cattle. 
But  if  these  first  steps  towards  civilization  were 
slow,  they  were  certain ;  and  they  were  taken  by  it 
race  who  never  walked  backward.* 

The  Menapians,  as  that  portion  of  the  Frisians 
were  called  who  occupied  the  west  bank  of  the 
*  Grattan,  Hist,  of  the  Netherlands,  p.  7. 


44  THE  DUTCH  KEFOKMATION. 

Meuse,  becoming  at  a  later  day  the  Flemings,* 
were  a  maritime  people  in  the  earliest  ages,  and 
had  carried  on  a  commercial  intercourse  with  Eng- 
land from  time  immemorial.  The  stajjle  article  of 
this  primitive  traffic  was  salt,  which  they  manu- 
factured and  exported  in  vast  quantities, f  They 
also  understood  the  preparation  of  salted  meat, 
which  they  did  Avith  such  perfection  that  it  became 
of  high  repute  even  in  Italy;  and  Ptolemy  tells  us 
that  they  had  planted  a  colony  on  the  eastern  coast 
of  Ireland,  in  the  twilight  of  the  world.:}: 

So  marked  was  the  difference  between  the  races 
who  inhabited  the  Netherlands  when  Vespasian 
wore  the  purple.  The  southron  was  brave,  impul- 
sive, frank,  but  fickle;  he  was  the  shuttlecock  of 
his  time,  and  Avhoever  held  the  battledore  mieht 
buffet  him  which  way  he  pleased.  He  took  im- 
pressions easily,  and  any  plastic  hand  might  mould 
him. 

The  uorthener  was  ,cool,  phlegmatic,  calcula- 
ting, self-dependent,  untiring.  He  was  able  and 
determined  to  develop  himself.  The  civilization  of 
Italy  he  never  accepted,  for  it  suited  neither  his 
taste  nor  his  genius.  Like  his  country;  he  was  self- 
made,  and  he  grew  his  OAvn  civilization. 

This  hard}^  and  intrepid  race  were  mariners  by 
instinct ;  and  when  once  possessed  of  the  coast- 
line, they  did  not  seek  to  make  the  least  jirogress 

*  GraUan,  Hist,  of  the  Neth.,  p.  7.     Motley,  Davies,  Grotius. 
t  Gibbou,  Grattai),  Grotius,  Van  Loon,  Alande  Hist. 
J  Des  lloches,  Hist,  de  la  Belgique. 


THE  NETHERLANDS  IN  EMBRYO.       45 

towards  the  interior.  The  element  of  their  enter- 
prise, the  object  of  their  ambition,  was  the  ocean. 
When  they  became  too  numerous  for  their  narrow 
limits,  they  sent  off  the  redundant  population  to 
colonize  new  regions.*  When  their  veins  became 
too  full,  the  blood  spouted  in  expeditions.  Thus 
Saxon  warriors  seated  themselves  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Loire ;  thus  Hengist  and  Horsa  crossed  the  sea 
into  England,  departing,  as  it  has  been  conjectured, 
from  the  Netherlands.! 

The  domination  of  the  empire  in  the  Nether- 
lands continued  upwards  of  five  centuries.  Then 
Eome,  gouty  with  excess,  dizzy  with  license,  stag- 
gered to  its  grave.  The  empire  lost  its  cohesive 
power  long  before  it  crumbled.  "  Stately,  exter- 
nally powerful,  but  undermined,  putrescent  at  the 
core,  and  death-stricken,"  nothing  sustained  it  for 
a  century  but  the  ghost  of  its  former  proAvess. 
Soon  prying  eyes  detected  this  hidden  weakness. 
"  I  am  a  Koman  citizen  "  ceased  to  be  a  passport 
and  a  palladium  ;  and  at  length  jubilant  barbarism 
swooped  to  the  sack  of  the  Eternal  City.  "  It  was 
the  opening  of  the  fountains  of  the  frozen  North; 
and  the  waters  prevailed,  but  the  ark  of  Christian- 
ity floated  upon  the  flood.  As  the  deluge  subsided, 
the  earth  returned  to  chaos,  the  great  pagan  empire 
was  washed  out  of  existence,  but  the  dim,  groping, 
faltering,  ignorant  infancy  of  Christian  Europe 
began."! 

Then  came  what  Schiller  terms  "  the  epoch  of 
o  Grattau,  p.  14.  f  Ibid.  J  Motley,  vol;  1,  p.  19. 


46  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

the  immigration  of  nations  "* — the  nomadic  age. 
Europe  was  redivided.  A  confused  horde  of  bar- 
barous tribes  quarreled  over,  and  fought  for  the 
possession  of,  the  disjointed  fragments  of  the 
Koman  empire.  Gradually  from  these  ruins  rose  a 
new  monarchy,  that  of  the  Franks.t  Like  their 
Koman  prototypes,  they  too  aspired  to  universal 
empire.  In  order  to  that,  it  was  necessary  to  sub- 
jugate at  the  outset  the  adjacent  territory.  So  the 
Netherlands  once  again  shook  beneath  hostile  foot- 
steps. The  Belgians,  already  Romanized,  were  again 
denationalized,  and  with  the  pliancy  of  old  days, 
they  easily  accommodated  themselves  to  the  new 
regime,  becoming  as  enthusiastically  French,  under 
the  pressure  of  necessity,  as  they  had  been  Latin.:!: 

The  Frisians — who  had  resumed  their  indepen- 
dence on  the  fall  of  Rome,  erecting  a  nation  Avhose 
limits  were  nearly  commensurate  with  those  of  the 
Dutch  Republic  in  after-days§ — prepared  for  a  des- 
perate resistance.  The  death-tug  continued  through 
the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries ;  nor  did  it  termi- 
nate definitely  until  Charlemagne  throttled  Fries- 
land.ll 

Evil  is  the  pioneer  of  good.  "W^ar  has  been 
finely  called  religion's  "  hewer  of  wood  and  drawer 
of  water,"  It  is  the  clearer  of  choked  channels, 
the  unknowing  smiter  of  organized  falsehood;    in 

■-'  Schiller,  p.  3G4. 

t  Ibid.,  p.  3G4.     Davies,  Grattau,  Grotiiis,  Van  Loon. 

X  Grattan,  Hist,  of  the  Netherlands,  p.  14.     Grotius. 

1^  Ibid.     Motlej',  vol.  1,  p.  20.     Van  Loon. 

jl  Grotius,  de  Antiq.  Reip.  Batav. 


THE  NETHERLANDS  IN  EMBRYO.   47 

twilight  ages,  the  only  light  we  see  is  the  sabre's 
gleam.  And  so  now  this  epoch  sowed  gospel  seed. 
The  Franks,  hewing  their  way  to  empire,  opened  a 
gap  for  the  Bible.  Nominal  Christianity  was  plant- 
ed in  the  Netherlands — nominal  Christianity,  for  it 
had  been  already  emasculated  and  burdened  with 
a  host  of  idle  ceremonies,  and  half-paganized  by  its 
adoption  of  the  heathen  dogmas  of  the  Academi- 
cians. Even  thus  early  the  bishopric  of  Eome  had 
assumed  dictatorial  powers,  and  put  the  triple 
crown  upon  its  brow.  The  Eternal  City,  sighing 
for  the  sceptre  of  old  days,  said  with  the  Greek, 
"  The  trophies  of  Miltiades  will  not  let  me  sleep ;" 
and  her  ambitious  prelates  schemed — successfully, 
as  the  sequel  proved — to  cement  a  spiritual  king- 
dom vaster  and  more  world-embracing  than  the 
pagan  empire  of  the  CaBsars. 

So,  following  in  the  wake  of  the  Frankish  armies, 
the  popes  sent  their  missionaries  into  the  Low 
Countries.  Early  in  the  seventh  century,  Dago- 
bert,  first  king  of  Austrasia,"  contended  with  the 
Frisians,  and  conquering  Utrecht,  he  planted  there 
the  emblem  of  the  cross :  this  was  the  first  Chris- 
tian church  in  Friesland.f  Nor  did  it  long  exist ; 
for  in  G92  Utrecht  was  again  held  by  the  Frisians, 
who  were  still  stout  unbelievers. |  But  in  that  same 
year,  another  of  the  Frankish  monarchs,  Pepin, 
vanquished  Eadbod,  the  Frisian  chief,  forcing  him 

*  Afterwards  the  ducliy  of  Lorraine. 

f  Davies,  Hist,  of  Holland,  vol.  1,  p.  20.     Grotius,  Motley,  etc. 

t  Ibid. 


48  THE  DUTCH  KEFOBMATION. 

to  exchange  a  royal  for  a  ducal  title;*  then,  as  the 
fierce  pagan  continued  turbulent,  the  tremendous 
blows  of  Pepin's  bastard,  Charles  the  Hammer, 
pounded  a  large  part  of  Triesland  into  Christian- 
itj.t  Eadbod  himself  was  persuaded  to  allow  him- 
self to  be  baptized.  But  the  imprudence  of  a  monk 
spoiled  all ;  for  after  Radbod  had  immersed  one  leg 
in  the  baptismal  font,  a  thought  struck  him,  and  he 
j)aused.  "  Where  are  my  dead  forefathers  ?"  que- 
ried he.  "In  hell,"  said  the  officiating  priest. 
"  Mighty  well,"  retorted  the  pagan  ;  "  then  I  would 
rather  feast  with  my  ancestors  in  the  halls  of  Wo- 
den, than  shiver  and  starve  alone  in  the  heaven  of 
the  Christians ;"  and  he  declined  the  rite4 

Badbod  did  not,  however,  actively  oppose  the 
conversion  of  his  people.  In  719,  Gregory  II. 
despatched  Willibrod,  an  Anglo-Saxon  monk,  from 
England,  into  Friesland  to  preach  the  gospel  § — 
selecting  him  because  the  languages  of  the  English 
and  the  Frisians  of  that  period  were  very  similar.il 
This  priest  was  created  archbishop  of  Friesland  by 
the  pontiff ;1[  and  now,  landing  in  the  Netherlands, 

«  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  20. 

■j-  Ibid.  Des  Koehes,  Hist,  de  la  Belgiqiie.  Van  Loou,  Alande 
Hist.  X  Vita  Sti.  Bonifacii. 

§  Brandt,  Hist,  of  the  Eef.  in  and  about  the  Low  Countries. 

II  "So  late  as  the  sixteenth  century,  the  dialect  of  Friesl.and 
bore  more  resemblance  to  English  than  to  any  other  tongue — 
Guicciardini,  Des  Belg. ,  torn.  2,  -p.  288,  duod.  ;  and  even  now  an 
acquaintance  with  the  Dutch  language  is  an  excellent  glossary  to 
our  old  poets,  for  it  has  sustained  little  change  in  the  lapse  of 
time."     Davies,  Hist,  of  Holland,  vol.  1,  p.  18,  note. 

IT  Bede,  Hist.  Eccl.,  lib.  5,  cap.  11. 


THE  NETHERLANDS  IN  EMBRYO.       49 

lie  fixed  tlie  seat  of  his  see  at  Utrecht,  rebuilt  the 
ruined  church,  supplemented  it  by  a  monastery,  and 
gave  a  nucleus  to  the  Christianity  of  the  marshes.* 

Thus  England  proselytized  the  Low  Countries ; 
and  such  was  the  origin  of  the  famous  bishopric  of 
I^^trecht.  For  many  years  it  was  piously  fostered. 
Charles  Martel  granted  the  royal  domains  and  priv- 
ileges in  the  adjacent  territories  to  the  bishops  of 
this  see,  enriching  them  besides  by  the  cession  of 
several  other  more  distant  estates.f  Gradually 
thej^  assumed  to  levy  taxes  and  collect  customs, 
until,  in  the  lapse  of  ages,  they  vied  in  splendor  and 
autocratic  sovereignty  v/itli  the  Roman  pontiifs. 

From  the  date  of  the  definitive  establishment  of 
the  bishojjric  of  Utrecht,  the  fight  between  Chris- 
tianity and  the  national  idols  was  spasmodic.  Join- 
ing hands  with  the  Saxons,  the  Frisians  rebelled  in 
the  middle  of  the  eighth  century;  but  Charles  Martel 
stamped  down  the  rising ;:]:  and  Charlemagne  for  ever 
laid  the  perturbed  ghost  of  Woden — for  the  first  time 
since  the  sack  of  Eome,  uniting  the  Netherlands 
under  one  crown  imperial.§  Once  before,  the  low- 
land provinces  had  been  united  in  their  servitude 
to  Caesar.  Eight  hundred  years' had  passed  away, 
and  now  they  were  again  made  one  in  their  subjec- 
tion to  Charlemagne — a  conqueror  of  whom  men 
might  sa}^  as  Cassius  said  of  Caesar : 

«  Hist.  Wil.  Hedfe  in  Willibrodo,  p.  25  ;Bede,  Hist.  Eccles., 
lib.  5,  cap.  11. 

t  Davies,  Hist,  of  Holliind,  vol.  1,  p.  2G,  et  seq. 

X  Grotius,  Motley,  Gruttan.  §  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  22. 

U.Uch    lUf-  3 


50  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

"He  doth  bestride  the  naiTOW  world 
Like  a  Colossus,  and  we  petty  men 
Walk  under  his  huge  legs,  and  peep  about 
To  find  ourselves  dishonorable  graves."* 

Throuc;li  all  these  vicissitudes  the  Frisians  and 
the  Menapiaus  clung  tenaciously  to  their  national- 
ity ;  of  that  nothing  could  rob  them.  "  They  agreed, 
however,  to  obey  the  chiefs  -whom  Charlemagne- 
should  appoint  to  govern  them,  according  to  their 
own  laws — laws  which  were  then  collected,  and  are 
still  extant.  The  vernacular  version  of  their  Asega 
book  contains  the  Frisian  customs,  together  with 
the  additions  of  the  Franks.  The  general  statutes 
of  Charlemagne  were  of  course  in  force;  but  that 
great  legislator  knew  too  well  the  importance  at- 
tached by  all  mankind  to  local  customs,  to  allow 
his  imperial  capitulars  to  interfere  unnecessarily 
with  the  Frisian  law^s."t  "  The  Frisians  shall  be 
free  as  long  as  the  wind  blows  out  of  tlie  clouds  and 
the  world  stands;"!  so  ran  the  text  of  their  statute 
book.  It  was  the  spirit  as  well  as  the  letter  of 
their  law,  even  in  chains;  it  was  the  consolation 
and  the  aspiration  of  their  servitude. 

From  the  recitals  of  the  missionary  monks  who 
w^ent  into  the  Netherlands  to  preach  Christianity, 
we  may  get  an  idea  of  their  condition  under  Char- 
lemagne. The  old  difference  between  the  southern 
provinces — some  of  which  have  since  been  incor- 
porated with  France — and  those  of  the  north,  was 

*  Shakespeare,  Julius  Cresar,  act  1,  sc.  2. 

t  Motlej',  vol.  ],  p.  22.  %  Ibid. 


THE  NETHERLANDS  IN  EMBRYO.       51 

as  perceptible  as  ever.  On  the  Frencli  border  "  the 
inhabitants  had  forgotten  their  former  names ;  the}-- 
were  designated  by  the  appellations  of  their  rivers, 
woods,  and  towns,  classified  as  accessories  to  inan- 
imate objects;  and  having  no  monuments  to  remind 
them  of  their  origin,  they  became  without  recollec- 
tion or  association — sank  into  a  people  without  an 
ancestry.""  The  country  was  a  desert.  The  mon- 
asteries, if  we  may  credit  the  words  of  their  char- 
ters, were  established  amid  vast  solitudes.  The 
French  nobles  came  into  Brabant  only  for  the  sport 
of  bear-hunting  in  its  interminable  forests.'!'  A 
race  of  serfs  now  cultivated  the  domains  of  haughty 
lords  and  imperious  priests.  The  clergy  held 
immense  estates  in  these  wastes;  a  single  abbey, 
that  of  Nivelle,  owned  fourteen  thousand  families 
of  vassals.:}: 

The  peoples  to  the  north  mounted  one  step  high- 
er with  each  age.  A  maritime  race,  they  were  more 
industrious,  ingenious,  prosperous,  and  happy  than 
most  others  of  that  rude  time;  and  the  natural 
ferocity  of  their  Saxon  blood  had  been  somewhat 
tempered  by  habits  of  labor.  "  They  are  handsome 
and  Avell  clothed,"  say  the  old  chroniclers,  "  and 
their  lands  are  well  cultivated  and  abound  in  fruits, 
milk,  lioney."§  Friesland  then  swept  from  the 
Scheld  to.  the  Weser;  and  numbers  of  the  Hano- 
verian and  "Westphalian  Saxons,  decimated  by  a 
barbarous   edict  which   ordered  every  warrior  of 

=:-  Grattan,  p.  17.  f  Ibid.,  p.  14.  J  Ibid.,  p.  18. 

§  Acta  Sanct.  Belgii. 


52  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

their  tribes  who  exceeded  the  height  of  his  own 
sword  to  be  beheaded,*  had  adopted  the  Frisian 
name.t 

The  descendants  of  the  Menapians  began  now 
to  be  called  Flemings,  and  they  had  so  greatly 
improved  their  provinces,  that  Pliny's  shade  would 
not  have  recognized  the  old  morasses  of  his  day. 
Already  the  turbulent  waters  had  been  gotten  in 
hand — subdued  to  purposes  of  utility.  Already 
dykes  were  built  and  canals  were  dug.  The  plains 
thus  partially  reconquered  from  the  sea  were  dis- 
tributed in  portions,  according  to  their  labor,  by 
those  who  had  reclaimed  them,  except  the  parts 
reserved  for  the  chieftain,  the  church,  and  the  poor. 
This  vital  necessity  for  the  construction  of  dykes 
had  given  to  the  Frisians  and  the  Flemings  a  habit 
of  union,  good-will,  and  reciprocal  justice  ;  because 
it  was  necessary  to  make  common  cause  in  tliis 
good  work  of  mutual  preservation.:]:  Indeed,  at 
this  very  period  the  Flemings  so  well  understood 
the  principles  of  association,  that  they  had  formed 
political  clubs  as  barriers  to  the  despotic  violence 
of  their  more  barbarous  conquerors ;  these  they 
called  guilds,^  and  they  comprised,  besides  their 
covenants  for  mutual  protection,  an  obligation, 
which  bound  every  member  to  succor  every  other  in 
sickness,  or  shipwreck,  or  distress.ll  "^le  guilds 
were  the  sure  breeders  of  the  free  towns,  and  the 

*  V;m  Loon,  Alande  Hist.  f  Ibid.         J  Grattau,  p.  18. 

§   Gilden,  or  in  the  Latin  of  those  times,  g'lldonia. 
II  Grattan,  p.  20. 


THE  NETHEELANDS  IN  EMBBYO.       5:3 

principle  on  which  they  were  based  originated  the 
most  ancient  corporations.*  The  increasing  influ- 
ence of  these  social  compacts  alarmed  the  quick- 
sighted  despotism  of  Charlemagne,  and  he  pro- 
hibited them.  But  the  imperial  ban  was  powerless 
when  opposed  to  the  popular  will;  so  the  guilds 
stood  their  ground,  and  within  a  century  after  their 
prohibition  they  had  cobwebbed  Flanders  with  cor- 
porate towns.t  Already  Bruges  and  Ghent,  Ant- 
werp and  Courtray,  Bergen-op-zoom  and  Thiel,  were 
the  seats  of  an  ever-increasing  trade ;  and  Thiel 
contained  in  the  tenth  century  fifty-five  churches, 
from  which,  in  the  absence  of  other  evidence,  we 
may  conjecture  the  extent  of  its  population. :|: 

Contemporaneously  with  this  social  transfor- 
mation in  the  Netherlands,  a  political  revolution 
occurred  in  Europe.  The  old  Batavian  and  the 
later  Roman  forms  faded  away,  and  were  succeeded 
by  a  new  polity.  No  great  popular  assembly  assert- 
ed its  sovereignty,  as  in  the  primitive  epoch.  The 
elective  power  had  been  lost  under  the  Bonians, 
who  had,  after  conquests,  conferred  the  administra- 
tive power  over  their  subject  provinces  upon  offi- 
cials appointed  by  the  metropolis.  So  did  the 
Franks;  and  Charlemagne  completed  the  revolu- 
tion. Popular  assemblies,  popular  elections  were 
ignored.  Military,  civil,  judicial  officers  were  the 
creatures  of  the  king.§  Counts,  earls,  dukes,  were 
not  then  the  hereditary  heads  of  noble  families : 

•~-  Grattan,  p.  20.  t  I^^i'l- 

t  Ibid.  §  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  25. 


54  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

they  were  merely  the  officials  of  the  empire,  remov- 
able at  will,  possessing  no  hereditary  rights.* 

But  Charlemagne  did  not  live  long  enough  to 
consolidate  his  revolution ;  and  vvhen  he  died,  chaos 
came  again.  Europe  had  lost  its  old  forms,  and  it 
had  not  yet  acquired  new  ones.  The  great  law- 
giver reigned  too  soon.  He  was  five  centuries  in 
advance  of  his  epoch.  Prodigious  as  was  his  geni- 
iis,  it  was  still  too  weak  to  remould  society  single- 
handed;  and  so,  since  he  left  no  kindred  soul  saga- 
cious enough  to  comprehend  his  plans,  his  clumsy, 
swollen,  heterogeneous  empire  began  to  crumble. 
Cold  masses  up  all  things,  sticks,  stones,  earth,  and 
water,  into  dirty  ice ;  heat  first  makes  separation, 
then  reunites  elements  of  the  same  nature.  Char- 
lemagne was  the  cold,  massing  the  empire;  his 
dawdling  descendants  were  the  heat,  severing  the 
congealed  lump,  which,  as  it  severed,  reunited  kin- 
dred particles ;  and  thus  Friesland  found  itself  once 
more  in  its  desolate  corner,  a  cohesive  unit.  But  it 
was  not  independent.  The  kings  who  had  divided 
and  subdivided  Charlemagne's  vast  dominion,  ceded 
the  Netherlands  now  to  the  German,  now  to  the 
Frenchman,  until  the  country  grew  dizzy  with 
changing  masters;  but  the  provinces  were  still 
parts  of  the  loose,  disjointed  empire.t  In  this  oscil- 
lation Friesland  shared ;  and  thus  that  narrow  hook 
of  land  which  Avas  destined  in  future  ages  to  be  the 
cradle  of  a  great  republic,  was  for  a  time  the  oft- 
bartered  victim  of  chaifering  barbarians. 

*  Grattan,  p.  19.  f  Motlc}-,  id  antea. 


DEVELOPMENT.  55 

CHAPTEE    III. 

DEVELOPMENT. 

The  Netherlands  now  trembled  upon  the  thresh- 
old of  those  ages  to  which  historians  have  fitly 
prefixed  the  epithet  "  dark."  Medieval  life  was  sub- 
terranean. Europe  at  large  groped  in  a  fog-bank  ; 
saw  "as  through  a  glass,  darkly" — "saw  men  as 
trees  walking."  Since  Charlemagne  there  had  been 
no  central  authority.  Each  local  patch  of  territory 
was  plundered,  in  the  name  of  government,  by  who- 
ever in  the  hurly-burly  could  usurp  the  rule ;  and 
though  the  continental  provinces  were  nominally 
attached  to  one  or  the  other  of  the  several  monar- 
chies among  which  Europe  was  parcelled  out,  in 
fact  each  robber  noble,  each  grasping  prelate, 
swayed  an  absolute  sceptre  in  whatever  domain  he 
had  contrived  to  snatch.  "  Power,  the  more  subdi- 
vided, became  the  more  tyrannical.  The  sword  Avas 
the  only  symbol  of  law ;  the  cross  was  a  weapon  of 
offence;  the  bishop  was  a  consecrated  pirate;  every 
petty  baron  was  a  burglar  ;  while  the  people,  alter- 
nately the  prey  of  duke,  prelate,  and  seignor,  shorn 
and  butchered,  esteemed  it  happiness  to' sell  tliem- 
sel\TS  into  slavery,  hoping  thereby  to  gain  shelter 
beneath  the  eaves  of  a  convent,  or  to  huddle  for 
protection  mider  the  castle  walls  of  some  little 
potentate."* 

*  Motley,  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Eep.,  vol.  1,  p.  2C. 


66  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

Besides  this  voluntary  entrance  into  servitude, 
made  by  tlie  timid  or  the  weak,  shxvery  was  also 
compulsory.  Criminals,  vagrants,  strangers,  ship- 
wrecked sailors,  prisoners-of-war,  were  commonly 
reduced  to  serfdom.* 

There  were  three  classes  in  this  brotherhood  of 
woe.  Lowest  grovelled  the  slaves  of  laymen — mere 
human  cattle ;  btutes,  with  no  claim  to  a  fraction 
of  their  own  labor,  without  j'ights,  and  with  no  mar- 
riage, except  under  infamous  conditions. t  One  step 
higher  stood  the  villeins',  or  villagers,  only  less  for- 
lorn. But  they  had  a  beneficial  interest  in  their  own 
flesh  and  blood;  for  "  they  could  commute  the  labor 
due  their  owner  by  a  fixed  sum  of  money,  after 
annual  payment  of  which  they  were  graciously  per- 
mitted to  work  for  themselves.":}:  Then  there  were 
the  serfs  of  the  cloisters  and  the  various  ecclesi- 
astical establishments.  With  cunning  policy,  the 
churchmen  made  their  slavery  milder  and  more 
humane  than  that  of  the  rude  barons — as  showing 
the  superior  clemency  of  their  rule  and  the  prefera- 
ble status  of  their  serfs.  And,  indeed,  Motley  assures 
us  that  "  the  lot  of  a  church-slave  was  freedom  in 
comparison  with  that  of  his  fellow-bondmen.  To 
kill  him  was  punishable  by  a  heavy  fine.  He  could 
give  testinrony  in  court :  he  might  inherit,  was  able 
to  make  a  will,  and  could  plead  before  the  law,  if 
law  could  be  found. "§  For  these  reasons  most  of 
the  voluntary   sales   were   made    to   ecclesiastics; 

•=■  Motley,  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Rep.,  vol.  1,  p.  26, 

t  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  o3.       J  Ibid.,  Grotius,  Davies.       §  Ibid. 


DEVELOPMENT.  57 

and  this  gave  the  church  an  immense  number  of 
retainers ;  the  number  hekl  by  the  bishopric  of 
Utrecht  is  said  to  have  been  enormous.* 

The  picture  is  sickening.  But  there  was  another 
still  darker :  for 

"iu  the  lowest  deep,  a  lower  deep 
Still  threatening  to  devour  men,  opened  wide, 
To  which  the  hell  they  suffered  seemed  a  heaven." 

The  Norsemen — as  that  pagan  race  was  called 
which  then  inhabited  Denmark  and  Sweden  and 
Norway — began  their  ferocious  raids.  These  fierce 
freebooters  had  long  infested  the  northern  seas, 
making  desultory  descents  upon  the  coasts  of  Fries- 
land,  England,  and  France.  Towards  the  close  of 
the  ninth  centuryf  they  waged  a  wider,  more  deter- 
mined war.  Quitting  their  wild  ej-ries  in  vast 
flocks,  they  swooped  to  batten  on  European  civili- 
zation at  large.  The  Netherlands  were  quickly 
overrun ;  Germany  wap  harried ;  France  was  pil- 
laged.l  One  province  alone  successfully  resisted 
their  first  onset.  Flanders,  the  patrimony  of  Bald- 
win Bras-de-fer — confirmed  to  him  of  the  iron 
arm,  with  the  title  of  count,  by  the  king  of  France 
as  the  reluctant  reward  of  his  romantic  and  daring 
elopement  with  Judith,  the  monarch's  daughter§ — 
was  preserved  unplundered  throughout  the  life  of 
that  doughty  knight.     But  on  his  death,  the  Flem- 

*  Motley,  Grattan. 

f  882.     Yvheatou,  Hist,  of  the  Northmen. 
X  Michelet,  Hist,  of  France  ;  Grotius,  Hume. 
§  Van  Loon,  Aleudc  Hi.sl.,  Grotius. 


58  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

ings,  too,  succumbed ;  and  the  wliole  Netherlands 
wore  the  terrible  shackles  of  the  *sea-kings.* 

But  the  domination  of  the  Normans  was  not 
long.  Their  chief  was  assassinated  by  the  com- 
mand of  Charles  the  Fat,  the  German  emperor; 
and  this  left  the  nuisance  to  abate,  just  on  the 
edge  of  the  tenth  century.t  It  was  an  alleviation ; 
one  link  in  the  chain  of  the  serfs  was  broken.  The' 
Crusades  snapped  another.  Many  knights,  anxious 
to  win  barren  laurels  on  the  Syrian  sands,  were 
unable  to  command  the  money  necessary  for  their 
outfit.  Such  always  found  a  Shylock  in  the  church. 
Ecclesiastics  would  dole  out  their  hoarded  gold  to 
purchase  the  estates  of  the  needy  adventurers ;  and 
these  were  glad  to  sell  or  mortgage  their  serfs,  if 
thereby  they  might  get  the  means  of  fighting  the 
Paynims.^ 

Besides,  any  one  might  become  a  soldier  of  the 
cross — a  service  which  ioq^  precedence  of  every 
other.  The  serf  was  invited  to  combat  for  the  holy 
sepulchre  equally  with  the  noble  ;  and  he  who  did 
so  returned  a  freeman  : — liberty  which  many  were 
adventurous  enough  to  purchase  at  such  an  honor- 
able price.§  Thus  the  Crusades — those  Quixotic 
tilts  against  an  Asiatic  windmill — became  at  once 
educators  and  emancipators. 

But  throughout  this  period  there  were  no  longer 
laws — there  were  only  forces,  of  which  three  were 
preeminently  potent :  feudalism,  ecclesiasticism,  and 

«•'  Grattan,  p.  2i.     Slallet,  Northern  Antiqiiitics.  t  l^id. 

I  MicLiuur.s  Hist,  of  the  Cn;sades.         §  Motley,  vol.  1,  lutrod. 


DEVELOPMENT.  59 

the  rising  municipal  power.  Each  of  these  extended 
an  unwitting  hand  to  civihzation  :  in  their  grinding 
friction  a  hght  was  struck. 

The  first  force,  and  for  a  time  the  most  powerful, 
was  the  feudal  system  —  emblematic  of  the  un- 
sheathed sword.  Even  this  brute  power  was  a 
growth.  It  sprang  from  land ;  land,  then  as  now,  the 
pedestal  of  influence,  almost  of  manhood.  Estates 
were  then  of  two  kinds ;  proprietary,  or  allodial — a 
word  synonymous  with  tlie  fee-simjjle  of  our  common 
law* — and  feudal  A'  Besides  the  lands  held  in  each 
kingdom  by  local  owners,  care  was  always  taken,  in 
those  days,  to  reserve  many  estates  to  the  crown, 
partly  for  the  support  of  its  dignity,  partly  for  the 
exercise  of  its  munificence.:}:  These  desmcnse  lands, 
as  the  territory  thus  reserved  was  called,§  were  the 
chief  source  of  the  royal  revenue.il  Often  they  were 
granted  in  trust  to  favored  courtiers,  to  be  held  of 
and  for  the  king,  as  benefices.*^  Though  conferred 
originally  during  the  royal  pleasure,  in  the  course 
of  time  benefices  became  hereditary  f*  the  claim 
of  a  son  to  succeed  his  father  was  frequently  too 
plausible  or  too  formidable  to  be  rejected ;  and 
thus  were  laid  the  foundations  of  the  half-independ- 
ence of  the  great  media)val  vassals. ft 

"A  natural  consequence  of  hereditary  benefices," 

*  Hallam,  Hist.  Middle  Ages,  p.  65. 

t  This  word  is  probably  the  barbSrous  sj'nonym  of  the  Latin 
benfficium.     See  Du  Caiige  v.  Freedom. 

X  Hallam,  p.  70.  §  Montesquieu,  L'Esprit  des  Lois. 

II  Ibid.  II  Ibid.     Maine,  Ancient  Law. 

o«  Ibid.     Hallam.  ff  Hallam,  pp.  67  and  73. 


60  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

remarks  Hallam,  "was  that  those  who  possessed 
them  carved  out  portions  to  be  held  of  themselves 
bj  a  similar  tenure  of  service  and  fealty."*  Soon 
the  law  begaji  to  look  upon  allodial  owner^iip  with 
dislike,  and  to  favor  the  more  popular  tenure,  until 
eventuall}' lands  held  in  fee-simple  were  exceptional 
and  rare.t 

The  same  change  occurred  in  the  nature  of  the 
crown  offices.  The  kingdom  of  Charlemagne,  and 
of  his  predecessors,  was  divided  into  a  number  of 
districts  called  counties,  each  under  the  government 
of  a  count — a  name  long  familiar  to  the  Romans, 
and  by  which  they  rendered  the  gyrif  of  the  Ger- 
mans:!:— whose  duty  it  was  to  administer  justice,  pre- 
serve tranquillity,  collect  the  public  revenue,  and 
lead  his  retainers  into  the  field  to  the  assistance  of 
his  monarch  in  time  of  war.§  The  title  of  duke 
implied  a  still  higher  dignity,  and  commonly  gave 
authority  over  several  couuties.il 

At  the  outset  these  offices,  like  the  benefices, 
were  awarded  at  pleasure ;  but  like  the  others, 
they,  too,  gradually  hardened  into  hereditaments, 
so  that  at  last  titled  families  came  to  regard  the 
usurped  duchies  or  counties  which  they  governed 
as  theirs  cJe  jure  as  well  as  de  facto. \ 

From  this  double  usurpation  nobility  sprouted. 
In  early  times,  all  distinctions  of  rank  were  founded 

• 
■~  IluUam,  p.  72. 

t  Leg.  Burgundy,  tit.  2G.     Hallam,  Montesquieu. 
%  Hallam.  §  Ibid.  1|  See  Hallam,  p.  67,  note. 

H  Montesquieu,  L'Esprit  des  Lois.     Grotius. 


DEVELOPMENT.  Gl 

ou  tlie  possession  of  land  and  on  civil  employ- 
ments.* When  these  became  hereditarj,  and  were 
shut  np  to  a  few  fortunate  families,  a  patrician  caste 
was  the  inevitable  result ;  "  that  landed  aristocracy 
arose  which  became  the  most  striking  feature  in 
the  political  system  of  Europe  during  many  cen- 
turies, forming  in  fact  its  chief  distinction  both  from 
the  despotism  of  Asia,  and  the  equalit}'^  of  republi- 
can government."'!" 

The  customs  of  an  epoch  will  always  be  moulded 
by  its  habits.  So  now,  what  had  begun  through 
ambition  was  at  last  dictated  by  necessity.  "  In 
that  dissolution  of  all  law. which  ensued  on  the 
death  of  Charlemagne,  the  turbulent  nobles  among 
whom  his  empire  was  divided,  constantly  engaged 
in  internecine  strife,  placed  their  chief  dependence 
upon  men  whom  they  attached  to  their  respective 
banners  by  gratitude,  and  bound  by  strong  condi- 
tions. The  oath  of  fidelity  which  they  had  taken 
on  their  accession  to  power,  the  homage  which  they 
had  paid  to  their  sovereign,  they  exacted  from  their 
■  vassals  in  turn.  To  render  military  service  became 
in  that  age,  when  war  was  a  passion  and  a  business, 
the  essential  obligation  which  the  tenant  of  a  ben- 
efice undertook ;  and  out  of  those  old  royal  grants, 
now  become  for  the  most  part  hereditary,  there 
grew  up  in  the  tenth  century  both  the  name  and 
the  reality  of  feudalism.":}: 

Such  in  its  more  salient  aspects  was  the  feudal 
system.     In  many  of  the  Netherland  provinces,  it 

e  Hallam,  p.  69.  j  H'i^l-     Grotius.  |  ILiIli.ni,  p.  7.'. 


62  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

took  early  and  deep  root ;  in  Friesland  it  was  never 
planted.*  Under  various  pretexts,  the  sagacious  tra- 
ders contrived  to  retain  their  proprietary  interest  in 
the  soil.  Man  and  the  land  were  linked  together ; 
iliey  were  lawfully  married  for  life  or  death ;  the 
Frisian  had  wedded  his  bogs.  Thus  it  was  that  in 
Friesland  the  lands  were  cultivated,  not  by  laborers 
or  by  serfs,  as  elsewhere,  but  by  owners ;  and  the 
swamps  yielded,  some  tenfold,  some  twenty-fold, 
and  some  a  hundred-fold,  because  they  were  loved. 
It  was  one  of  the  secrets  of  Frisian  progress.  Each 
man  was  interested  in  the  improvement  of  his  coun- 
try, and  this  fact  nerved  every  arm,  emboldened 
every  heart,  to  grapple  with  the  sea,  to  erect  dykes 
and  windmills ;  as 

"  Ouward  for  aye,  though  diligently  slow, 
The  firm,  conuected  bulwark  seems  to  grow  ; 
Spreads  its  long  arms  amidst  the  watery  roar, 
Scoops  out  an  empire,  and  usurps  the  shore. "f 

But  though  feudalism  did  not  ground  itself  in  Fries- 
land, it  had  an  influence  there.  Indeed,  the  essen- 
tial principle  of  a  fief,  which  Hallam  defines  to  have* 
been  "  a  mutual  contract  between  suzerain  and  ten- 
ant of  support  and  fidelity,"!  was  already  exempli- 
fied among  the  Frisians  in  the  spirit  of  complete 
concert  which  united  them  against  the  tyranny  of 
the  ocean,  and  against  the  despotism  of  man ;  and 
it  might  also  be  traced  in  the  Flemish  guilds.§ 
But  the  feudal  polity  was  an  advance,  and  made 

*  Motley,  vol.  1,  pp.  21  and  38.     Grattan,  Grotius,  Van  Loon, 
f  Goldsmith,  Traveller.     J  Hallam,  p.  75.      §  See  chap.  2,  p.  51. 


DEVELOPMENT.  G3 

for  civil  freedom  chiefly  in  this,  that  at  a  time  when 
the  desolating  hand  of  power  seemed  about  to  sweep 
individualism  into  the  abyss,  as  it  had  done  in  Asia, 
it  preserved  the  name,  if  not  the  essence,  of  right, 
and  privilege,  and  honor  ;  and  it  cherished  the  idea 
of  private  justice,  as  we  may  learn  from  the  consid- 
eration of  the  limitations  of  the  services  of  vassal- 
age, so  cautiously  marked  out  in  those  old  law- 
books which  record  the  customs  of  the  past,  and 
from  the  reciprocity  of  obligation  between  the  lord 
and  his  tenant,  from  the  consent  required  in  every 
legislative  measure,  and  from  the  security  which 
every  vassal  found  in  the  privilege  of  judgment  by 
his  peers.* 

In  its  chivalric  notions  of  the  inviolability  of 
faith,  of  the  necessit}-  for  honor,  and  of  the  honesty 
of  truth,  the  feudal  system  was  an  excellent  school 
of  moral  discipline  in  an  age  drunk  with  excess, 
careless  of  treachery,  vicious  from  habit,  and  riot- 
ous with  power.  In  just  these  respects  it  was  a  help 
to  civilization — the  go-cart  which  held  up  its  infant 
feet  and  strengthened  them  to  walk. 

By  the  side  of  feudalism,  at  one  time  inferior  to 
it,  but  finally  controlling  it,  stood  another  and  a 
different  force — the  religion  of  the  popes.  With  the 
jus  divinum  on  its  lips,  every  step  it  took  was  tow- 
ards empire — temporal  as  well  as  spiritual.  Doav- 
ered  by  the  pious  donations  of  the  successors  of 
Charlemagne,  who  chiefly  sign ahzcd  their  authority 

"""  See  the  very  able  resume  of  the  iiiflucuce  of  feudalism,  in 
Hallam,  p.  123,  et  scq. 


n4  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

by  lavishing  territorial  gifts  on  the  cliiircli;*  organ- 
ized by  the  subtlest  wit  of  man  on  an  amalgamated 
basis  of  truth  and  shrewd  imposture;  officered  by 
the  most  consummate  genius  of  the  age ;  engross- 
ing the  scholarship  of  the  time  :  the  Koman  see 
swept  on  conquering  and  to  conquer.  Europe  was 
cob-webbed  with  episcopal  cities  which  gradually 
became  so  many  principalities,  independent  of  the 
civil  law,  taking  orders  from  the  popes  alone ;  dic- 
tating the  political  policy  of  the  world ;  deposing 
and  setting  up  princes ;  consolidating  their  usurped 
power,  now  by  force,  now  by  fraud ;  intriguing, 
ubiquitous,  all-powerful. 

The  clergy  of  that  day  were  not  merely  church- 
men, they  were  huntsmen  and  warriors ;  and  so 
"  careering  in  helm  and  hauberk  with  other  ruff- 
ians, they  bandied  blows  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight, 
blasted  their  enemies  with  bell,  book,  and  candle  ; 
forced  sovereigns  at  the  head  of  armies  to  grovel 
in  the  dust  at  their  feet,  and  offer  abject  submission 
for  the  kiss  of  peace ;  exercised  the  same  conjury 
over"  ignorant  baron,  and  cowardly  hind,  making 
the  fiction  of  apostolic  authority  to  bind  and  loose 
as  prolific  in  acres  as  the  other  divine  right  to  have 
and  hold ;  thus  the  force  of  cutivated  intellect, 
wielded  by  a  chosen  few,  and  sanctioned,  as  the' 
assumption  went,  by  supernatural  power,  became 
more  potent  than  the  sword" — directed  its  blows, 
told  it  wlieu  and  where  to  strike,  and  became  the 
guiding  brain  of  feudalism.  'Tis  an  instructive 
*  Gnittau,  p.  21. 


DEVELOPMENT.  65 

picture,  and  it  teaches  the  tremendous  power  of 
knowledge,  the  inevitable  superiority  of  educated 
mind  over  brute  violence.  And  this  was  why  the 
holy  see  so  carefully  monopolized  learning — know- 
ing the  secret  of  its  authority,  it  could  not  but 
frown  uj)on  popular  intelligence. 

But  God  made  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him  ; 
even  priestcraft  had  its  mission.  It  preserved  and 
fostered  art;  it  treasured  up  in  crj-pts  and  con- 
vents the  fossils  of  antique  learning;  it  incarnated 
some  of  the  Christian  precepts ;  and  at  last  its  bold 
assumption  and  its  corruptions  provoked  inquiry — 
forced  honest  men,- spite  of  themselves,  to  investi- 
gate and  to  protest. 

Cap  in  hand  to  feudalism  and  tlie  Eoman  see 
knelt  a  third  force — the  rising  municipalities  of 
Europe.  The  constant  tendency  of  mankind  is  tow- 
ards aggregation.  Even  individualism  gravitates 
towards  poj)ulation.  And  so  now  the  clustering- 
hovels  of  the  villiens  began  to  expand  into  towns. 
The  nascent  burghers  built  better  houses,  and  threw 
up  ramparts.  Elbowing  each  other  on  the  street, 
brought  into  daily  contact,  they  commenced  to  com- 
bine and  to  trade.  Little  by  little  manufactures 
were  started;  the  different  trades  yveve  born,  and 
each  had  its  guild.  Then  money  was  made.  Gold 
began  to  assert  itself.  Commerce  was  launched, 
and  "plucking  up  half-drowned  Holland  by  the 
locks,  it  poured  wealth  into  her  lap." 

The  nobles,  scenting  no  danger,  at  first  encour- 
aged the  towns,  rewarded  them  with  charters,  erected 


66  THE  DUTCH  EEFOBMATION. 

them  into  corjjorate  bodies,  and  were  bribed  into 
complacence  by  burgher  gold.  The  church,  sus- 
pecting no  heresy,  spread  out  her  arms  in  blessing 
over  the  rising  municipalities,  and  dictated  the 
recompense.  The  cunning  citizens  long  made  no 
claims,  only  asked  leave  to  be.  But  gradually  they 
grew  in  power  and  wealth.  "  Fishermen  and  river 
raftsmen  became  ocean  adventurers  and  merchant 
princes..  Needy  Flemish  weavers  became  mighty 
manufacturers."  Like  the  imprisoned  spirit  in  the 
fabled  casket,  when  the  seal  was  broken,  the  little 
towns  lifted  into  colossal  shape.  "  Armies  of  work- 
men, fifty  thousand  strong,  tramped  through  the 
swarming  streets.  Silk-makers,  clothiers,  brewers, 
became  the  gossips  of  kings,  lent  their  royal  friends 
vast  sums,  and  burned  the  royal  notes  in  fires  of 
cinnamon  wood." 

The  opulence  of  the  merchants  of  this  period, 
and  their  sumptuous  style  of  living,  quite  shamed 
the  aristocracy,  impoverished  by  war  and  frequent 
spoliation.  On  one  occasion,  it  is  related  that  the 
count  of  Flanders  invited  a  number  of  Flemish 
magistrates  to  dine  with  him.  The  chairs  which 
they  were  to  occupy  at  table  were  unfurnished  with 
cushions.  The  proud  burghers,  not  satisfied  with 
bare  seats,  strij^ped  off  their  valuable  velvet  cloaks, 
and  folding  these,  sat  on  them  during  the  repast. 
After  the  feast  they  were  about  to  retire  in  appa- 
rent forgetfulness  of  those  costly  articles  of  dress. 
A  courtier  ventured  to  remind  them  of  their  man- 
tles :  but  the  burgomaster  of  Bruges  replied,  "  We 


DEVELOPMENT.  G7 

Flemings  are  not  in  the  habit  of  carrying  away  the 
cushions  after  dinner" — and  the  cloaks  were  left  in 
the  count's  dining-hall.*  'T  is  an  illustrative  anec- 
dote ;  and  though  there  was  a  spice  of  insolence  in 
it,  the  action  was  high  and  authoritative. 

But  spite  of  the  equivocal  attitude  in  which  they 
stood,  the  mediieval  municipalities  were  the  sole 
depositories  of  those  rights  which  lay  hid  under  the 
epithet  "  privileges."  The  logical  sequence  of  their 
life  was  independence.  Every  dollar  they  coined 
meant  emancipation.  The  keen  competition  of  their 
trades  opened  men's  eyes,  and  awakened  intellect. 
The  burghers  were  democratic  by  instinct ;  and  this 
was  why  their  cities  were  sure  to  become  the  cra- 
dles of  republican  and  protestant  ideas. 

Indeed,  the  maritime  spirit,  wherever  it  showed 
itself,  already  bore  the  countenance  of  republican- 
ism. In  Italy  the  Lombard  merchants  w-ere  demo- 
crats.f  Venice,  then  towering  in  her  pride  of  place, 
with  no  sea-weed  tarnishing  her  marble  halls,  the 
fresh,  beautiful  bride  of  the  Adriatic,  vv^as  an  oligar- 
chical republic.  Avignon,  and  Aries,  and  Marseilles, 
commercial  cities  in  the  south  of  France,  tottered 
to  their  feet  and  stood  a  moment  as  free  common- 
wealths in  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century 4 

The  alliance  of  town  with  town  for  maritime 
purposes  was  common.  Narbonne  formed  one  with 
Geneva  in  1166,§  and  nearly  a  century  later  the  fa- 

«  Chambers'  Tour  in  Holland,  p.  9. 
f  Sismondi,  Hist,  des  Kep.  Ital. 
X  Yelly,  t.  14,  p.  44G. 
§  Hallum,  Middle  Ages,  p.  119. 


68  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

mous  Hanseatic*  League  was  formed,  and  the  chief 
cities  of  Germany  cemented  a  union  whose  purpose 
it  was  to  foster  and  protect  commercial  interests.l 

But  it-was  in  the  Netherlands  that  the  munici- 
pal system  was  carried  to  the  greatest  perfection. 
In  Holland  especially,  the  towns  were  not,  as  else- 
where, merely  portions  of  the  state ;  the  state  itself 
was  rather  an  aggregate  of  towns,  each  of  which 
formed  a  little  commonwealth  within  itself,  provi- 
ding for  its  own  defence,  governed  by  its  own  laws, 
holding  separate  courts  of  justice,  administering  its 
OAvn  finances;  the  legislative  sovereignty  of  the 
whole  being  vested  in  the  towns,  forming  in  their 
collective  capacity  the  assembly  of  the  states.:]: 

Each  community  elected  its  own  municipal  au- 
thorities; and  thus  inspired  with  the  breath  of  life, 
with  plenty  of  blood  m  their  veins,  the  miniature 
republics  made  their  gold  weigh  up  the  other  forces 
in  the  end,  spite  of  the  jus  divimon.^ 

"  Stability,"  says  Schiller,  "  the  security  of  life 

and  propertj^,  arising  from  mild  laws  and  an  equal 

administration  of  justice — these  are  the  parents  of 

activity  and  industry."!!     This  advantage  the  Low 

Country  cities  had.    They  became  established  marts. 

Antwerp,  Amsterdam,  Dort,  Ostend,  and  the  rest, 

were  more  or  less  affiliated  with  the  Hanse-towns.lF 

Tlieir  burghers,  launching  their  ships,  visited  first 

*  From  the  German  Ilansa,  a  union. 

f  Ai^pletou's  Cyc,  Ai-t.  Hanseatic  League. 

X  Davics,  vol.  1,  p.  76,  et  seq.  §  Motley. 

II  Schiller,  Eev.  of  the  Netherlands,  p.  3G9. 

t  Appleton's  Cyc. ,  in  loco. 


DEVELOPMENT.  69 

the  iieigliboiing  coasts  of  Denmark  and  England; 
and  the  wool  which  thej  brought  back  employed 
thousands  of  industrious  hands  in  Bruges,  Ghent, 
and  Antwerp;  while  by  the  middle  of  the  twelfth 
century  the  cloths  of  Flanders  were  extensively 
worn  in  France  and  Germany.-" 

Nor  did  the  Netherland  seamen  pause  here : 
with  unprecedented  daring,  "they  A^entured,  without 
a  compass,  to  steer  under  the  North  pole,  round 
to  the  most  northern  cape  of  Russia.  And  in  this 
voyage  they  received  from  the  Wendish  towns  a 
share  of  the  Levant  trade,  Avhicli  then  passed  from 
the  Black  sea,  through  the  Russian  territories,  to 
the  Baltic.  When,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  this 
trade  began  to  decline,  the  crusades  having  opened 
a  new  passage  through  the  Mediterranean  for  In- 
dian merchandise,  and  after  the  Italian  municipal- 
ities had  usurped  this  lucrative  branch  of  commerce, 
the  Netherlands  became  the  emporium  between  the 
Hanseatic  League  in  the  north  and  the  Italian  tra- 
ders in  the  south. 

The  main  current  of  this  trade  flowed  through 
Bruges,  in  Flanders,  for  several  centuries,  and  fat- 
tened that  favored  city.  "  Here,"  if  we  may  credit 
Schiller,  "  a  hundred  and  fifty  vessels  might  often 
be  counted  at  one  time,  entering  the  harbor  of 
Sluys.  Besides  the  rich  factories  of  the  Hanseatic 
League,  here  -were  seated  fifteen  trading  companies, 
with  warehouses,  and  merchants'  families  from  every 
European  country.     This  also  was  the  market  for 

*-  Schiller. 


70  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

all  the  northern  products  for  the  south,  and  for  the 
Levantine  trade  bound  north."*  Bruges  rolled  in 
prosperity.  The  meanest  citizen  nursed  his  person 
in  velvet  and  silk.f 

Such  was  the  origin,  such  the  varied  influence, 
of  the  three  great  mediae val  forces,  which  "  build ed 
better  than  they  knew." 

Meantime,  the  Netherlands  remained  divided 
into  numberless  small  provinces,  whose  rulers  did 
homage  at  one  time  to  the  German  emperors,  at 
another  to  the  kings  of  France.  To  recite  the 
names  and  achievements  of  these  "  illustrious  ob- 
scure" might  well  cause  even  the  most  patient  gene- 
alogist to  shudder,  and  is  foreign  to  the  purpose  of 
these  pages.  One  of  them,  Count  Baldwin  of  Flan- 
ders, was  the  father-in-law  of  William  of  Normandy; 
and  when  the  conqueror  crossed  the  channel  into 
England,  Netherland  ships  ferried  him  over,  and 
Netherland  men-at-arms  helped  him  subdue  the 
island :|; — assistance  which  he  recompensed  by  the 
annual  payment  of  three  hundred  silver  marks  into 
the  Flemish  treasury  ;§  which  proves  that  even  in 
the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  and  in  family 
transactions,  the  Flemings  looked  sharply  to  the 
main  chance.  It  was  Mathilda,  William's  Flemish 
Avife,  who  worked  with  her  own  fair  hands  that  cele- 
brated tapestry  of  Bayeux,  on  which  was  deftly 
embroidered  the  whole  story  of  the  conquest.ll 

Another  of  these  petty  sovereigns,  and  the  last, 

«  Schiller,  pp.  :'.70,  371.  f  Ibid.     Gruttan,  p.  29. 

t  Hume,Hi.st.  oIEiig.,  in  loco.         §  Grattau,  p.  28.         ||  Ibid. 


DEVELOPMENT.  71 

was  Jacqueline,  the  most  lovely,  intrepid,  and  tal- 
ented woman  of  lier  times — the  Helen  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  She  was  as  unhappy  as  she  was  beautiful. 
Succeeding  in  her  seventeenth  year  to  an  inheri- 
tance of  three  counties — Holland,  Zealand,  Hai- 
nault — she  was  mated  successively  with  three  greedy 
but  titled  adventurers,  who  persecuted  her,  tore  her 
provinces  by  dissensions  incessantly  fomented,  and 
drove  her  to  implore  the  intervention  of  her  cousin 
Philip  of  Burgundy;  who,  in  his  turn,  despoiled  her 
of  her  last  possessions,  and  degraded  her,  on  her 
marriage  with  Yrauk  Von  Borselen,  a  gentleman  of 
Zealand,  whose  gentle  and  knightly  spirit  consoled 
her  for  the  cowardice  and  brutality  of  her  former 
husbands,  to  be  the  lady-forester  of  her  own  domin- 
ions.* On  the  death  of  Jacqueline,  in  1436,  the 
uncourtly  usurper  took  undisputed  possession  of 
her  titles,  drowning  remorse  in  his  thirst  for  aggran- 
dizement.! 

Thus  began  the  rule  of  the  Burgundian  dukes  in 
the  Netherlands :  that  ambitious  house,  leaping  into 
the  saddle,  was  now  to  run  its  appointed  race  in  pur- 
suit of  the  illusive  phantom  of  empire.  By  the  various 
shifts  of  purchase,  legacy,  and  bargain,  Philip,  sur- 
named  "  the  Good,"  added  territory  after  territor}' 
to  the  nucleus  states  which  he  had  wrung  from  the 
reluctant  hands  of  his  fair  cousin,  until,  finally,  he 
united  under  his  ducal  coronet  eleven  of  the  richest 
provinces    of   Europe.:}:      His    court   rivalled    that 

•-■  Davies,  vol.  1,  p.  217,  d  seq.     Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  -10.     Grattau. 
p.  47,  ei  seq.  f  l^i'^-     ^^^^"  Loou.  X  Schiller,  p.  3115. 


72  THE  DUTCH  REFOKMATION. 

of  the  Vatican  in  ostentatioiis  magnificence ;  and 
flushed  with  success,  the  smooth  usurper  proceeded 
to  curtail  the  privileges  of  his  burgher  subjects. 
But  he  was  so  subtle  and  insidious  in  this  spolia- 
tion, that  the  parchment  liberties  of  the  Netherlands 
were  partially  suppressed  ere  the  cities  awoke  to 
protest.  Besides,  the  citizens  were  so  enervated 
by  luxury,  that  they  lacked  heart  to  resist,  and 
feared  that  they  might  lose  every  thing  by  claiming 
any  thing.  Meantime,  their  material  prosperity  in- 
creased, and  they  hoarded  gold  which  their  descend- 
ants were  to  melt  into  bullets  and  beat  into  swords. 

Philip  died  in  1467;  and  his  son  Charles  the 
Bold  succeeded  to  the  extensive  and  compact  duke- 
dom which  he  had  so  unscrupulously  consolidated. 
Charles  augmented  his  domains  by  the  conquest  of 
two  additional  provinces ;  then,  casting  an  envious 
eye  on  the  diadem  of  Louis  XI.,  lie  aspired  to 
expand  his  own  coronet  into  a  crown  by  carving 
out  with  his  sword  a  kingdom  which  should  surpass 
France  in  extent,  as  its  j)resent  dukedom  exceeded 
it  in  wealth. 

The  vaulting  and  restless  spirit  of  this  meteoric 
prince  devised  a  scheme  of  conquest  embracing  the 
whole  line  of  country  from  the  Zuyder  Zee  and  the 
old  mouth  of  the  Bliine  away  to  Alsace,  with  the 
icy  and  granite  battlements  of  Switzerland  as  the 
ramparts  of  his  realm.*  His  execution  was  not 
equal  to  his  conception.      Narrow-minded,   short- 

^'  Scliiller,  p.  3G5.     Motlej'.  Grattiiii.     Kirk,  Life  of  Charles  the 
Bold. 


DEVELOPMENT.  73 

sigbtetl,  despotic,  as  a  conqueror,  he  was  as  far 
removed  as  possible  from  Haninbal  to  wliom  he 
was  foud  of  comparing  himself ;  and  as  a  politician, 
he  could  outwit  no  one  but  himself.* 

Charles  at  once  put  his  project  afoot.  Begard- 
ing  the  Netherlands  only  as  an  inexhaustible  bank 
on  which  he  had  carte  UancJie,  he  confined  his  inter- 
course with  his  states  to  the  extortion  of  vast  sums 
of  money  with  which  to  pamper  his  quixotism ;  and, 
since  his  militar}^  career  was  singularly  unsuccess- 
ful, the  frequency  of  these  demands  well-nigh  drove 
the  patient  burghers  to  despair.  By  oaths  and  bra- 
vado he  was  nearly  successful  in  establishing  a  cen- 
tral despotism  on  the  ruius  of  the  ancient  provincial 
charter,  when,  in  a  happy  moment  for  the  Nether- 
lands, he  collected  an  army  and  dashed  to  the  con- 
quest of  Switzerland — meeting,  not  the  victory  of 
which  he  felt  assured,  but  an  obscure  death  in  the 
melee  at  Nancy ;  and  this  awful  rout  saved  the 
republicanism  of  the  Swiss,  and  partially  restored 
the  liberties  of  the  Low  Countries.'!- 

For  the  Lady  Mary  of  Burgundy,  the  daughter 
of  the  infatuated  paladin,  now  became  sole  mistress 
of  this  magnificent  dukedom — a  woman  as  young, 
fair  and  unprotected  as  poor  Jacqueline  had  been. 
Hel'  strait  was  the  opportunity  of  the  burghers. 
Environed  by  difiiculties,  menaced  by  Louis  XL, 
the  most  treacherous  and  subtle  of  kings,  she  ap- 
pealed, as  was  usual  in  such  cases,  to  the  commons. 
Naturally,  the  citizens  demanded  a  quid  pro  quo. 
o  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  48.  \  Ibid.     Ivirk,  Life  of  Charles. 


74  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

A  convention  was  summoned  to  meet  in  Ghent, 
and  the  deliberations  flowered  in  the  "  Great  Privi- 
lege," an  instrument  which  was  the  3Iagna  Charta 
of  the  Dutch,  and  which,  though  it  was  afterwards 
rescinded,  became  the  corner-stone  of  the  Dutch 
republic* 

Thus  a  stroke  of  the  pen  restored  the  pristine 
Netherland  charters ;  and  Mary,  besides,  bound  her- 
self not  to  marry  without  the  consent  of  the  states.f 
The  richest  and  most  beautiful  princess  in  Europe, 
she  had  many  wooers ;  two  were  especially  promi- 
nent. Louis  XI.  claimed  Mary  for  the  French 
dauphin;  Frederick  III.,  the  German  emperor,  de- 
manded her  for  his  son,  Maximilian  of  Austria ; 
and  to  one  of  these  suitors  the  choice  soon  nar- 
rowed itself.  Then  the  states  made  an  unfortunate 
choice.  Dreading  Louis  XI.,  whose  kingdom  bor- 
dered on  their  territories,  and  aware  that  Mary's 
husband  must  become  the  most  powerful  prince  in 
Christendom,  they  finally  awarded  the  hand  of  their 
duchess  to  Maximilian,  accelerating  the  very  evil 
which  they  were  striving  to  forestall.:]: 

A  decade  of  squabbles  succeeded;  then  Mary 
died,  after  giving  birth  to  a  son,  Philip  the  Fair. 
This  prince,  young,  handsome,  engaging,  was  mated 
with  Joanna,  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
of  Castile  and  Aragon,  a  bride  who  brought  Spain 
and  the  two  Sicilies  as  her  dower.§     From  this 

<^-  Grotius,  Motley,  Van  Loon,  Grattan,  Davies. 

t  Motltey,  vol.  1,  p.  50.     Scliiller. 

X  Schiller,  p.  ?,Gi>.  §  Ibid. 


DEVELOPMENT.  75 

union  sprung  Charles  V.  Born  in  1501,  lie  was 
destined  to  unite  in  his  simple  person  this  vast 
domain  acquired  partly  by  conquest,  but  chiefly  by 
two  fortunate  marriages. 

The  reign  of  Philip  the  Fair  was  short  and 
turbulent,*  Dying  in  1506,  while  on  a  visit  to  his 
brother-in-law,  the  king  of  Spain,  he  was  speedily 
followed  to  the  grave  by  Joanna,  who  became  mad 
from  grief  at  his  loss,  after  nearly  losing  her  senses 
from  jealousy  during  the  life  of  the  handsome 
profligate,  t 

The  regency  of  the  Netherlands  reverted  to 
Maximilian,  now  become  emperor  of  Germany,  on 
this  event ;  and  he  at  once  named  his  daughter 
Margaret  governant  of  the  states  during  the  in- 
fancy of  the  second  Charlemagne,  And  this  brings 
the  political  history  of  the  Low  Countries  into  the 
dawn  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when  God  said, 
"  Let  there  be  light." 

*  We  must  not  omit  to  notice  the  existence  of  two  factions 
■which,  for  two  centuries,  divided  and  agitated  the  whole  popula- 
tion of  Holland  and  Zealand.  One  bore  the  title  of  Eoeks — 
fish-hooks  ;  the, other  of  Kaaheljaus — codfish.  The  origin  of  these 
grotesq^^e  names  was  a  dispute  between  two  parties  at  a  feast,  as 
to  whether  the  codfish  took  the  hook,  or  the  hook  the  codfish. 
This  apparently  frivoloi;s  dispute  was  made  the  pretext  for  a  seri- 
ous quarrel :  and  the  partisans  of  the  nobles  and  those  of  the 
towns  ranged  themselves  on  either  side,  and  assumed  different 
badges  of  distinction.  The  Iloeks  were  partisans  of  the  towns, 
and  wore  red  caps  ;  the  Kaaheljaus  were  the  friends  of  the  nobles, 
and  wore  gray  bonnets.  These  factions  were  finally  extinguished 
in  1192.     Grattan,  p.  49,  note.  f  Ibid.,  p.  G5, 


76  THE  DUTCH  EEFOUMATION. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

RUDIMENTS  OF  THE  REFOEMATION. 

It  is  an  authoritative  declaration  of  Miclielc^t, 
that  "  whoever  restricts  himself  to  the  present,  the 
actual,  will  never  comprehend  the  present  and  the 
actual.  Whoever  contents  himself  with  seeing  the 
exterior,  and  painting  the  form,  does  not  even  see 
it.  To  see  it  correctly,  to  paint  it  faithfully,  we 
must  know  that  which  is  within,  the  motor;  no 
painting  without  anatomy.""^' 

In  obedience  to  this  rule,  we  have  traced  the 
progress  of  the  Netherlands  towards  civilization — 
seen  men  getting  "first  a  house,  and  then  a  wife, 
and  then  an  ox  to  plough,"  as  Hesiod  has  phrased 
it,t  and  so  slowly  developing  into  society — a  plural 
unit  formed  by  daily  exigency.  It  remains  for  us 
to  retrace  our  steps  a  little,  that  we  may  thread  the 
maze  of  the  more  distinctive  rudiments  of  the  Ref- 
ormation by  holding  their  clue. 

And  if  we  look  back,  we  shall  see  that  the  Ref- 
ormation itself  was  not  an  emeute,  but  a  develop- 
ment, often  most  alive  when  it  seemed  most  torpid ; 

♦  Michelet,  The  People,  p.  15. 

I  Trcmenbeere,  Political  Experience  of  the  Aucieuts,  p.  2. 


RUDIMENTS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.   77 

for  every  earnest  opponent  of  ecclesiastical  pride, 
of  scandalous  errors,  of  ill-morals  in  tlie  early  ages 
was  a  reformer.  Lutlier  in  embryo  lurked  under 
tlie  cowls,  went  girt  by  the  cord,  walked  in  the  san- 
dals of  a  hundred  monks,  preaching  patches  of 
truth,  and  uttering  piecemeals  of  protest,  centu- 
ries before  the  famous  Wittemburger  collected  and 
moulded  these  disjecta  memhra  into  one  body,  armed 
by  God  with  a  flaming  sword  to  smite  the  pretend- 
er who 

"  Sat  upon  the  Seven  Hills, 
And  from  his  throne  of  darkness  niled  the  world. " 

In  the  march  of  the  Eoman  see  to  its  suprem- 
acy, thoughtful  men  see  less  to  marvel  at  than  to 
deplore.  When  Christianity  lost  the  democratic 
simplicity  of  the  apostolic  age,  and  began,  like  the 
Athenians,  to  "  spend  its  time  in  nothing  else  but 
either  to  tell  or  to  hear  some  new  thing,"*  the 
reign  of  bastard  prelates — half  fanatics  and  half 
mountebanks,  dealers  in  terrible  phantasmagoria, 
but  unable  to  meet  each  other  in  the  street  without 
laughing,  like  the  Eoman  augurs  who  were  their 
prototypes — was  insured.f 

Though  the  Netherlands,  with  the  rest  of  Eu- 
rope, had  been  persuaded  or  coerced  to  break  their 
idols  and  accept  the  pagan  Mosaic,  which  the  Ital- 
ians called  the  gospel,  they  were  always  restless 

*  Acts  17:21. 

t  See  Brandt's  rationale  in  his  History  of  the  Reformation  in 
she  Low  Countries,  vol.  1,  Introduction. 


78  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

and  fretful  believers,  prone  to  ask  tliS  reason  of 
their  faith,  "why  this?"  and  "  why  that  ?"— terrible 
questioners,  in  which  undutiful  and  puzzling  be- 
havior they  were  long  aided  and  abetted  by  their 
native  churchmen.  "  Heresy,"  says  Grotius,  "  was 
the  Hollander's  immemorial  inheritance."* 

Indeed,  the  Low  Country  prelates,  the  bishops 
of  Utrecht  especially,  were  more  indebted  to  the 
pious  donations  of  kings  and  kaisers  for  their  wealth 
and  influence,  than  to  the, good- will  of  the  pontiffs; 
therefore,  as  they  were  more  independent  of  the 
metropolitan  see  than  most"  other  churchmen,  they 
frequently,  in  the  midnight  ages,  shouted  "veto" 
when  the  popes  made  extravagant  demands  or  set 
afloat  new  pretensions. 

Thus,  if  you  will  have  an  illustration,  in  860, 
King  Lotharius  requested  Nicholas  I.,  who  then 
wore  the  purple,  to  decree  his  divorce  from  Tend- 
berg  his  consort,  as  being  too  near  of  kin  to  him,t 
or  because  of  her  scandalous  life,  as  some  say. J 
The  pontiff  said  no;  whereupon  the  monarch  con- 
vened a  synod  at  Aix  la  Chapelle,  which  Hunger, 
bishop  of  Utrecht,  attended;  and  this  assembly 
pronounced  the  divorce  lawful  and  proper.§  The 
enraged  pontiff  at  once  cited  these  ecclesiastics  to 
answer  for  their  bold  action  at  Eome,  pretendirg 
that  his  decision  in  such  cases  was  final  and  unim- 
peachable.     The    archbishops    of    Treves   and    of 

*  Grotiu?,  de  Antiq.  Keip.  Batav. 

t  Keginonis,  chron.  11,  p.  47. 

I  Blondel,  de  Papa  pocma,  p.  136.  §  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  5. 


RUDIMENTS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.    79 

Cologne  were  delegated  by  the  rest  to  answer  at  the 
bar  of  the  Vatican.* 

On  reaching  Eome,  these  high  dignitaries  were 
kept  in  waiting  almost  a  month  ere  they  were 
admitted  to  an  interview  with  his  holiness;  and 
when  they  were  at  length  conducted  to  his  audience- 
room,  they  found  themselves  "surrounded  by  a 
company  of  ruffians,  who  treated  them  as  robbers 
are  accustomed  to  treat  the  entrapped,"  were 
insulted  by  the  pope,  and  finall}^  without  any 
attempt  at  confutation,  they  and  theirs  were  bound 
by  a  scandalous  sentence,  "inconsistent  with  the 
Christian  faith,"  which  "  bereaved  them  of  all  hu- 
man assistance,  and  interdicted  the  use  of  every 
thing  sacred  or  profane."t 

On  their  return,  the  aggrieved  bishops  indited 
a  letter  to  Pope  Nicholas,  which  closes  thus : 

"God  has  made  his  queen  and  spouse  the 
church  a  noble  and  everlasting  provision  for  her 
family,  with  a  dowry  that  is  neither  fading  nor  cor- 
ruptible, and  given  her  an  eternal  crown  and  scep- 
tre; all  which  benefits,  you,  like  a  thief,  intercept. 
You  set  up  yourself  in  the  temple  as  God ;  instead 
of  a  shepherd,  you  have  become  as  a  wolf  to  the 
sheep.  You  would  have  us  believe  you  supreme 
bishop;  you  are  rather  a  tyrant;  under  the  mask 
of  a  pastor  you  hide  your  horns.  Whereas  you 
ought  to  be  a  servant  of  servants — as  you  call  your- 
self, you  intrigue  to  become  lord  of  lords.     What- 

*  Blondel,  de  Papa  poema,  p.  13G. 

f  See  their  Letter,  cited  in  Brandt,  id  antea. 


80  THE  DUTCH  BEFORMATION. 

ever  you  desire,  you  think  lawful;  thus  you  have 
become  a  deceiver  of  Christians.  For  all  these 
reasons,  neither  we  nor  our  brethren  and  friends 
regard  or  submit  to  your  commands — know  not 
3'our  voice,  and  fear  not  your  bulls.  You  condemn 
all  for  irreligious  and  impious  that  do  not  obey  your 
despotic  precepts,  forbidding  them  the  use  of  the 
sacraments.  "We  smite  you  with  your  own  sword, 
because  you  bring  the  commands  of  God  into  con- 
tempt, dissolving  the  unity  of  spiritual  assemblies, 
and  violating  peace,  the  badge  of  the  Prince  of 
heaven.  The  Hoty  Ghost  is  the  builder  of  all 
churches  as  far  as  the  earth  extends.  The  city  of 
our  God,  of  which  we  are  citizens,  reaches  to  all 
parts  of  the  heavens ;  and  it  is  greater  than  the 
city,  by  the  holy  prophets  named  Babylon,  which 
pretends  to  be  divine,  equals  herself  to  heaven,  and 
brags  that  her  wisdom  is  immortal;  and  finally, 
though  without  reasouj  that  she  never  did  err,  nor 
ever  can."* 

Such  was  the  impeachment  of  a  pontiff  in  the 
ninth  century;  and  this  tremendous  indictment  for- 
cibly recalls  Luther  before  the  Cardinal-legate  Ca- 
jetan  eight  hundred  years  later.  The  scenes  are  so 
much  the  same,  that  unless  you  knew  the  difference 
by  the  dates  and  names,  you  would  fancy  yourself 
present  at  the  Augsburg  interview.  "  For  in  human 
things,"  remarks  Strada,  "  however  times  and  jDer- 
sons  die,  still  the  same  causes  and  events  revive  ;"t 

*  Cited  in  Brandt,  vol.  1,  pp.  5,  6. 

f  Strada,  Hist,  of  the  Low  Country  Wars,  p.  2. 


RUDIMENTS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  81 

and  Schiller  can  tell  us  that  "  like  conditions  pro- 
duce like  phenomena."* 

Leap  now  over  a  hundred  and  thirty  years.  In 
992,  that  famous  synod  "which  deposed  Poj^e  John 
XV.  was  convened  at  Rheims,  and  among  the  as- 
sembled bishops  were  several  Netherlanders.  Ar- 
nulp,  bishop  of  Orleans,  presided.  "  This  pontiff," 
said  he,  "is  antichrist;"  and  he  added,  "In  the 
Low  Countries  and  in  Germany,  both  near  us,  there 
may  be  found  priests  of  God — men  eminent  in  reli- 
gion. Wherefore  it  seems  to  me  much  more  expe- 
dient and  proper,  were  it  not  for  the  godless  obsti- 
nacy of  contending  kings,  that  we  should  seek  in 
those  parts  for  the  judgment  of  bishops,  than  in 
that  city  which  is  now  set  to  sale,  and  whose  deter- 
minations ponderate  according  to  the  weight  of 
gold."t 

So  also  these  early  churchmen  often  sank  their 
esprit  du  corps  in  their  patriotism ;  for  whenever  the 
popes  encroached  upon  the  imperial  crown,  as  they 
constantly  did  in  those  days,  the  great  part  of  the 
Netherland  bishops  invariably  sided  with  the  em- 
peror, and  opposed  mitre  to  mitre.:}:  When  Hilde- 
brand  excommunicated  Henry  IV.. in  1076,  William, 
bishop  of  Utrecht,  responded  by  procuring  an  epis- 
copal vote  which  excommunicated  Gregory  himself; 
because  "he  had  confounded  profane  and  holy 
things,  by  attempting  to  screw  himself  into  the  man- 
agement of  the  popedom  and  the  empire  ;"  because 

-  Schiller,  p.  361. 

f  Cited  iu  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  0.  J  Ihid. 

4* 


82  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

"  lie  deceived  the  common  people  with  a  hypocriti- 
cal religion;"  and  "because  he  would  make  every- 
body believe  that  none  were  rightly  consecrated 
but  such  as  bought  the  priestly  office  of  his  gold- 
suckers."*  The  clergy  of  Liege  espoused  the  impe- 
rial cause  in  this  same  spirit,  were  always  the  bitter 
opponents  of  Hildebrand  and  his  innovations — 
stoutly  Ghibelline  and  never  Guelph.t 

It  was  this  same  Hildebrand  who  in  1076  pre- 
scribed clerical  celibacy,  a  manoeuvre  by  which  the 
wily  pope  meant  to  insure  the  consolidation  of 
church  spoils,  and  the  ecclesiastical  reversion  to 
each  churchman's  property ;  for  if  the  priests  were 
deprived  of  marriage,  they  could  have  no  legiti- 
mate children  among  whom  to  portion  out  either 
their  personal  estates  or  the  domain  of  the  church 
over  which  they  might  happen  to  preside.^ 

This  decree  provoked  a  storm  of  indignation. 
In  the  Netherlands  the  imprecations  Avere  loud  and 
deep.  Sigebent,  a  monk  of  Gambloon  in  Brabant, 
inveighed  against  the  prohibition  as  "  a  rash  sen- 
tence, contrary  to  the  sentiments  of  the  holy 
fathers  ;"§  while  the  Hollanders  compelled  their 
priests  to  marry,  saying,  "  The  man  who  has  no 
wife  will  naturally  seek  for  the  wife  of  another. "|i 

But  with  the  dawn  of  the  twelfth  century  these 

plain,    brave   speakers,  these    reproving   Nathans 

*  Cited  in  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  G. 

i  Brandt,  vol.  1,  pp.  8-10.     Motlej-,  vol.  1,  p.  07. 

J  Kanke,  Hist,  of  the  Popes.     Mosheim,  etc. 

§  Bloudel  de  Pap.  poema,  p.  3.     Chron.  W.  Heda. 

II  Grattan,  p.  32. 


RUDIMENTS  OF  THE  IlEFOEMATION.   83 

among  the  clergy,  began  to  die  off.  'Tis  true  in- 
deed that  when,  in  1122,  the  canons  of  Middleburgh 
disgraced  their  cloth  hy  lasciviousness,  Godebald, 
bishop  of  Utrecht,  drove  them  out  of  their  cloister, 
and  replaced  them  by  other  religionists.*  It  is  the 
last  instance  of  attempted  reformation  within  the 
church  for  four  centuries ;  and  now  we  must  seek 
for  reformers  elsewhere  than  upon  archiepiscopal 
thrones  and  within  monastery  walls. 

The  chain  of  protest  was  not  interrupted;  but 
in  the  latter  decades  of  the  twelfth  century  a  differ- 
ent class  of»  dissidents  appeared — reform  changed 
front.  The  priests  shut  their  eyes  to  the  abound- 
ing and  flagitious  abuses,  awed  by  the  half-omni]30- 
tence  of  the  holy  see,  and  stripped  of  lay  support 
by  the  entente  cordkdc  patched  up  between  the 
empire  and  the  Vatican. 

Just  at  this  period,  a  sect  which  grounded  its 
plea  upon  the  Scriptures,  holding  doctrines  which 
agreed  in  every  vital  point  with  the  tenets  of  mod- 
ern Protestantism,  and  haloed  by  imimpeachable 
antiquity,  entered  the  Netherlands,  and  began  to 
teach  the  primitive  doctrines.t  Their  missionaries 
were  known  by  a  variety  of  appellations — names 
which  oiiginated  either  in  their  habits  or  in  the 
localities  in  which  they  worked.  They  were  inde- 
fatigable in  prayer,  and  they  were  called  "  Beg- 
hards.":!:    They  were  Puritans  in  religion,  and  they 

<5  Cliroij.  W.  Heda,  p.  117. 

f  Brandt  vol.  1,  p.  12.     Mp.slieim,  Justiu. 

X  Eccl.  Hist.,  vol.  -J,  p.  '221. 


84  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

Avere  styled  "  Catliari,"*  They  were  handicrafts- 
men by  trade,  and  they  were  named  "Weavers."t 
They  were  humble,  and  they  were  nicknamed 
"  Humilists.";|:  One  of  their  chief  seats  was  in 
the  French  county  of  Alby,  and  they  were  styled 
"  Albigenses."§  Among  their  most  famous  teach- 
ers was  Pierre  "Waldo,  and  they  were  called  "  Vau- 
dois."||  In  Bohemia  they  proclaimed  the  brother- 
hood of  Christianity,  and  they  were  named  "  Bohe- 
mian Brothers."1[  But  whatever  the  sobriquet  in 
which  they  were  clothed,  their  characteristics  were 
everywhere  the  same — zealous,  untiriufg,  patient  in 
suffering,  constant  in  Avell-doing,  sheathed  in  the 
panoply  of  that  charity  which  "  beareth  all  things, 
hopetli  all  things,"  and  is  "kind;"  they  were,  if  not 
in  fact,  as  some  have  claimed,"^*  at  least  in  spirit, 
the  lineal  descendants  of  Peter  and  Paul  and  that 
disciple  whom  Jesus  loved,  for  they  were  the  resur- 
rectionists of  Christianity. 

«  Sismondi,  Hist,  of  Albig.  f  Ibid.     Brandt. 

X  Brandt,  id  antea. 

§  Ibid.     Hist,  of  the  Huguenots,  Am.  Tract  Soc,  1866. 

II  Ibid.  Unless,  as  many  hold,  Vaudois  and  Waldouan  were 
older  than  Pierre  Waldo,  and  meant  simply  a  Valleyer,  an  inhab- 
itant of  the  high  valleys  sloping  from  Mount  Viso,  early  and  long 
the  seats  of  a  purer  faith,  which  Kome  branded  as  heresy.     ^  Ibid. 

**  It  is  certain  that  the  Vaudois  themselves  claimed  a  descent 
from  the  apostles,  and  several  of  their  writings  do  indeed  bear 
intrinsic  evidence  of  such  antiquity  ;  bi;t  some  authoritative  schol- 
ars have  denied  their  apostolic  descent,  though  conceding  great 
antiquity  to  them.  The  question  has  been  much  discussed  pro 
and  con  /  nor  is  it  probable  that  it  will  ever  be  definitely  settled. 
Consult  and  compare  Vanema's  Eccl.  Hist,  in  loco,  "The  Noble 
Lesson"  in  Blair,  vol.  1,  pp.  473,  484,  Sismondi's  History  of  the 
Vaudois,  Gibbon,  Bossuet,  Hist,  oes  Variations,  etc. 


HUDIMENTS  OF  THE  EEFORMATION.     85 

Some  of  these  teachers  rejected  infant  bap- 
tism f  and  from  these  Baptists  claim  descent, 
tracing  their  genealogy  through  them  up  to  apos- 
tolic times. t  They  won  proselytes  with  almost 
inconceivable  rapidity;  and  when  Pope  Innocent 
III.  launched  his  crusaders  once,  twice,  thrice 
against  the  French  Vaudois,  slaying  a  million  of 
the  most  industrious  artisans  and  pure  citizens  in 
Christendom,!  the  dazed  and  maimed  survivors 
fled  into  Germany,  into  Bohemia,  into  the  Nether- 
lands, to  swell  the  ranks  of  their  brothers  in  the 
faith.§ 

The  free  fairs  which  the  chief  Low  Country  cities 
held  once  or  twice  every  year  for  business  pur- 
poses, and  which  attracted  traders  from  all  coun- 
tries,!! became  the  seed-ground  of  these  reformers.! 
A  word  spoken,  a  convert  won  in  the  mOjfket  towns 
of  Holland,  Flanders,  and  Brabant,  was  sure  to 
spread  the  principles  of  dissent  far  and  wide  :  and 
in  the  bustle,  their  first  growth  might  easily  escape 
notice,  and  be  accelerated  by  concealment.  Finally, 
the  Beghards  translated  the  Bible,  which  "Waldo 
had  previously  turned  into  French,  into  Dutch 
rhymes,  in  imitation  of  the  Teutons,  who  had  long 
been  accustomed  to  record  their  most  memorable 

*  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  12.  Allix,  chh.,  Pied.,  chap.  16,  pp.  110- 
li;5. 

f  Orchard,  Foreign  Baptists,  p.  324,  et  seq. 

X  Sismoudi,  Hist,  of  the  Albig.,  passim.  Hist,  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, passim. 

§  Mosheim,  Waddington,  Clark,  Martyn,  p.  96,  etc.,  Brandt. 

II  Schiller,  p.  373.  V  Ibid.,  p.  381. 


86  THE   DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

affairs  in  verse  ;  because,  said  tliey,  "  there  is  great 
advantage  in  it ;  no  jests,  no  fables,  no  trifles,  no 
deceits,  nauglit  but  words  of  truth.  There  is,  in- 
deed, here  and  there  a  hard  crust,  but  even  in  this 
the  marrow  and  sweetness  of  what  is  good  and  holy 
may  easily  be  discovered."* 

Then  Rome  awoke  from  the  dog-nap  into  which 
she  had  fallen,  weary  with  the  Languedocian  mas- 
sacres. Incensed  and  alarmed  at  the  wonderful 
growth  and  the  increasing  boldness  of  the  reform- 
ers, the  pontiffs — who  had  banned  the  Bible,  j)ub- 
lislied  new  decrees,  and  reinterpreted  and  glossed 
the  early  teachings — at  once  summoned  the  tempo- 
ral sword  to  their  assistance,  and  began  the  extir- 
pation of  the  heresy  which  opposed  what  they 
assumed  to  be  the  church. 

Previous  to  1135,  the  punishment  of  death  for 
heresy  was  unknown  in  the  Netherlands.!  In  that 
year  the  bishop  of  Utrecht  burned  several  victims 
before  the  doors  of  his  archiepiscopal  palace,  be- 
cause they  were  charged  with  holding  witli  Beren- 
garius,  that  the  corporeal  presence  was  a  fable.| 

From  this  initial  pyre  the  fire  spread  fast,  until 
the  whole  horizon  was  red  and  fetid  with  burning 
bodies.  Human  bloodhounds  were  unleashed  and 
put  upon  the  scent.  Hordes  of  idle  priests  were  set 
to  ferret  out  the  heretics.  Monks  prowled  in  every 
city  eager  to  clutch  victims.  Spies  were  bribed  to 
become  betrayers,  A  bounty-fund  was  raised  for 
apostates.  Suspicion  was  proof.  Heavier  and  fiercer 

«  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p,  11.  IT  Ibid.,  p.  11.  t  Ibid. 


BUDIMENTS  OF  THE  REFOKMATION.  87 

grew  the  persecntious ;  closer  grew  tlie  scrutiny ; 
severer  grew  the  tests  of  orthodoxy.  To  doubt  was 
heresy ;  to  deny  was  death — not  speedy  death,  but 
death  by  agonizing  inches,  by  ^jrolonged  spasms. 
Human  ingenuity  racked  itself  to  invent  new  tor- 
tures which  should  wring  but  not  kill  too  soon. 

In  Flanders,  the  accused  were  stripped  and  bound 
to  a  stake,  and  then  flayed  from  the  neck  to  the 
navel ;  on  this  quivering,  lacerated  flesh,  swarms  of 
wasps  or  bees  were  let  loose  to  fasten  and  stiug  to 
a  death  of  exquisite  torment.* 

One  of  the  bitterest  of  these  persecutors  was 
Monk  Eobert,  suruamed  Bulgarius.  He  was  an 
apostate,  and  so  when  he  assumed  the  Dominican 
hood  he  brought  with  him  an  acquaintance  with  the 
haunts,  manners,  signs,  and  hiding-places  of  the 
reformers,  which  made  him  the  most  successful  of 
inquisitors.  In  his  hands  murder  became  a  fine 
art.  Butchery  was  his  meat  and  drink :  so  much 
so  that  at.  last  he  even  turned  the  strong  stomach 
of  the  holj  see,  which  vomited  him  into  imprison- 
ment.t 

But  spite  of  blazhig  fagots  and  torture-rooms 
dissidents  increased  in  numbers  and  in  knowledge. 
They  held  the  Bible  to  be  the  sole  infallible  author- 
ity in  religion  4  they  proclaimed  that  "  no  man 
should  be  coerced  to  believe,  but  should  be  won  by 
preaching  ;"§  and  they  held  to  the  democracy  of 

=-•  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  14.     Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  68.  f  Brandt. 

}  Bossuet,  Hist,  des  Variations.    Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  G8. 
#  §  Brandt,  id  aniea. 


88  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

Christianity;  for  Voltaire  himself  confesses  that  they 
strove  to  implant  in  every  breast  the  idea  that  all 
men  are  created  equal.* 

Truly  a  formidable  list  of  heresies — an  indict- 
ment on  each  of  whose  counts  men  might  easily 
have  been  condemned  in  that  bitter  age.  And  wo 
arc  to  trace  their  story,  as  the  Alpine  hunters  do 
the  wounded  chamois,  by  their  bloody  footsteps. 
Whenever,  wherever  discerned,  Rome  endeavored 
to  stamp  them  out.  She  wounded  them  especially 
in  their  chief  teachers.  The  famous  Beghard,  Wal- 
ter Lollard,  a  Dutchman  whose  remarkable  elo- 
quence filled  England  with  dissenters,  and  bathed 
the  valley  of  the  Eliine  in  light,  was  apprehended 
and  burned  in  1320.t  'I  Wickliff's  long  life  was  a 
miracle.  Huss  and  Jerome  vanished  in  the  lurid 
fire  of  Constance  early  in  the  fifteenth  century.| 
But  the  gaps  thus  made  were  always  filled ;  and 
even  in  1457,  Germany,  highland  and  lowland,  was 
so  full  of  Yaudois  that  in  travelling  from  Cologne 
to  Milan,  from  Antwerp  to  the  Zuyder  Zee,  they 
could  lodge  nightly  with  their  co-religionists ;  while 
it  was  their  custom  to  ajQfix  private  marks  to  their 
signs,  to  write  cabalistic  letters  on  their  gates  as 
an  invitation  and  assurance  to  the  Christian  passer ; 
and  this  Trithemius  can  substantiate.!  These  were 
the  "gap  men"  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Waldo,  Lol- 
lard, Wickliff,  Huss — these  were  the  John  the  Bap- 
tists of  the  Reformation. 


'■  Cited  iu  Orcliiii-a,  p.  336.  f  Moslieim. 

I  Ibid.  §  Dauveis'  Hist. ,  p.  25. 


• 


EUDIMENTS  OF  THE  REFOEMATION.     89 

Eonie  never  succeeded  in  suppressing  them,  and 
though  she  drowned  their  voices  by  her  thunders, 
often  the  very  means  she  took  to  crush  them  only 
increased  their  influence.  For  instance,  when  the 
Hussites  rose  in  Bohemia  to  defend  their  faith, 
Rome  preached  a  crusade.  Many  Netherlanders, 
tempted  by  the  brave  words  and  the  indulgences  of 
the  pope,  enlisted  to  share  in  the  glory  and  to  reap 
the  reward.  They  got  little  of  either,  for  Ziska,  the 
illustrious  Bohemian  chieftain,  always  baffled  the 
invaders  of  his  country;  and  the  Dutchmen,  becom- 
ing familiar  with  the  tenets  and  manners  of  the 
heretics  in  their  campaigns,  returned  home  with 
a  greater  aversion  to  the  church  for  which  they 
had  fought  than  to  the  Hussites  whom  they  had 
attacked.* 

Meantime,  the  pride  and  the  power,  the  extor- 
tion and  the  presumption  of  the  priesthood,  in- 
creased apace.  They  asserted  their  independence 
of  the  civil  authority.  They  insinuated  themselves 
into  the  management  of  temporal  affairs  by  hold- 
ing the  pens  of  princes,  and  cities,  and  towns — ne- 
cessitated by  the  prevalent  ignorance  to  seek  their 
clerks  among  ecclesiastics.  Then  taking  advantage 
of  their  position,  they  wrote  in  cloister-latin,  a  jar- 
gon understood  by  the  monks  alone,  and  often  they 
got  the  civil  magistrates  to  sign  and  seal  instru- 
ments of  bequest  to  the  church — to  sign  and  seal 
unwittingly;  and  these  would  be  trumped  up  and 
used  in  after  years.t 

*  BnunU,  vol.  1,  p.  ly.  |-  Ibid.,  p.  15. 


90  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

Nor  was  their  avarice  less  than  their  ambition. 
The  bishops,  not  content  with  their  old  revenues, 
laid  new  burdens  upon  trade  and  land  from  time  to 
time.  In  some  places  the  husbandman  was  forced 
to  pay  so  much  wheat  and  oats  for  every  plough  he 
owned.  The  landless  were  charged  a  certain  meas- 
ure of  corn  as  a  fine  for  their  poverty.  Eapacious 
churchmen  exhausted  the  laity  by  every  species  of 
extortion,  establishing  new  orders  of  monks  and 
friars,  endowing  abbeys,  and  enlarging  and  building 
countless  monasteries  with  the  spoils.* 

Since  the  estates  of  the  church  might  not  be 
taxed,  of  course  every  acre  of  land  which  was  added 
to  the  already  enormous  ecclesiastical  domain  in- 
creased by  so  much  the  burdens,  and  decreased  in 
the  same  proportion  the  ability  of  both  lord  and 
burgher  on  whom  alone  the  state  exjUnses  fell.  Nor 
was  this  all.  Numbers  of  the  clergy  became  huck- 
sters ;  and  since  they  were  shielded  by  their  cloth 
from  all  taxation,  they  undersold  the  lay  merchants. 
Common  shopkeepers  began  to  starve  for  want  of 
custom,  and  deep  were  the  curses  which  they  mut- 
tered against  priests  who  thus  took  bread  out  of  the 
mouths  of  those  who  fed  them.  In  this  way  it  hap- 
pened that  monasteries  were  converted  into  shops, 
convents  into  warehouses,  and  the  mansions  of 
secular  churchmen  into  inns  and  tap-houses — typi- 
fying exactly  the  prior  change  in  the  ethics  of  the 
church.t 

Then  the  avarice  of  the  clergy  partially  accom- 

=•'  Boxharn,  Ned.  Hist.,  p.  179.     Braudt.  f  I^i^l- 


RUDIMENTS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.   91 

plislied  what  tlieir  cruelty  and  paganism  had  been 
powerless  to  do.  The  people  began  to  mnrmur  at 
the  burden  thrown  on  their  backs.  Haughty  nobles 
disputed  the  right  of  lazy  priests  to  enjoy  vast 
estates  while  refusing  to  be  taxed  or  to  draw  the 
sw^rd  in  the  state's  defence.  Princes,  piqued  by 
the  superior  wealth  of  the  churchmen,  and  ag- 
grieved by  their  withholding  of  all  rents,  opened  the 
law  books  and  feed  attorneys  to  hunt  up  or  invent 
some  statute  which  should  salve  this  wound.'"' 

Soon  the  Netherland  sovereigns  began  to  im- 
pose restrictions  upon  the  right  of  the  clergy  to 
hold  and  acquire  property — restrictions  which  grew 
sterner  and  more  general  in  the  lapse  of  time.f 
And  so  the  instinct  of  self-interest  began  to  sharpen 
the  eyes  of  all  classes.  Men's  pockets  were  enlisted 
against  Rome. 

Then,  too,  the  people  of  the  Netherlands  were 
slowly  rising  into  intelligence.  Their  language  was 
already  one  of  the  grandest  as  it  was  among  the  old- 
est of  Europe.  France  had  not  yet  begun  to  under- 
mine the  Belgic  tongue,  and  Holland  and  Flanders 
still  conversed  in  the  same  idiom : — an  idiom  which 
the  nobles  already  began  to  hate  as  that  of  freedom 
and  commerce,  and  which  the  clergy  still  more  dis- 
liked as  that  of  heresy  and  moral  independence. | 
Still,  the  Low  Dutch,§  as  it  was  styled  to  distin- 

«  Boxham,  Ned.  Hist.,  p.  179.     Brandt,  Motley. 
t  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  23,  et  scq. 

X  Bowring,  Sketch  of  the  Lang,  and  Literature  of  Holland. 
Amsterdam,  1829,  p.  9.  §  Nedcr-duiische. 


92  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

guisli  it  from  the  Higli  Dutcli*  or  German  lan- 
guage, was  tlie  Netlierland  tongue  as  the  German 
was  that  of  the  upper  plains — and  the  coexistence 
of  these  idioms  has  been  historically  proved  since 
the  eighth  century.t 

In  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century  dqgds 
began  to  be  drawn  up  in  the  national  language ; 
and  in  that  same  century  Yau  Maerlant  and  Uten- 
liove  gave  a  brilliant  impulse  to  their  native  tongue 
through  their  poetical  writings.']: 

Van  Maerlant,  born  at  Damme,  in  Flanders,  in 
1235,  was  a  philosopher,  an  orator,  and  a  poet  whose 
influence  was  singularly  broad  and  niarked.§  He 
has  been  honored  with  the  title  of  "  Father  of 
Dutch  literature  ;"11  and  what  entitles  him  to  espe- 
cial distinction  is,  that  he  was  a  layman — a  layman 
renowned  for  taste  and  learning  in  an  age  when 
reading  was  almost  exclusively  the  prerogative  of 
the  clergy.l 

Before  him  "  poetry  was  a  vagrant  art,  which,  in 
the  long  winter  evenings,  took  refuge  in  the  chim- 
ney corners  of  great  feudal  castles,  where  it  served 
to  amuse  and  console  maidens,  who  repaid  the 
efforts  of  the  troubadour  by  a  sympathetic  tear  of 
compassion.  Disdaining  cities,  the  minstrel  of  that 
period  was  to  be  seen  wherever  noble  blood  presi- 
ded, and  it  was  an  exception  when  he  occasionally 
condescended  to  bestow  a  poem  upon  the  most  emi- 

■■'  Ilocli-deutsche. 

t  Delepierre,  Hist,  of  Flemish  Literature,  p.  5.        J  Ibid,  p.  11. 

§  Eowiing,  Btituvian  Antholugy,  p.  22.  ||  Ibiil.  If  IbiiL 


RUDIMENTS  OF  THE  REFOEMATION.   93 

ncnt  among  the  plebeian  classes.  At  court  lie  was 
ever  welcome;  the  princes  loaded  him  with  favors, 
and  sought  to  make  him  one  of  their  retinue ;  for  it 
was  to  the  minstrel's  art  alone  that  they  were  in- 
debted for  their  fame."" 

The  quality  of  the  troubadour's  muse  corre- 
sponded with  the  vagrant  character  of  his  life,  and 
with  the  habits  of  the  time.  They  sang  of  love  and 
war  to  the  exclusion  of  higher  themes;  though  even 
in  the  Middle  Ages  translations  of  the  masterpieces 
of  Athenian  and  Roman  literature  were  not  wholly 
unknown  to  the  Germanic  races.  Translations  of 
the  Odyssey  and  the  ^neid  were  rare,  but  they  ex- 
isted,! while  the  legend  of  King  Arthur  was  familiar 
as  a  household  tale  throughout  Europe.^ 

Van  Maerlant  revolutionized  early  literature. 
He  wrote  in  the  vernacular,  and  for  the  people ;  and 
he  gave  the  Dutch,  which  is  peculiarly  adapted  to 
the  expression  of  devout,  dignified  emotion,  the  high 
tone  of  religious  feeling  and  sublimity  which  has 
ever  since  distinguished  it,  and  which  made  it  at 
one  time  the  representative  of  Christian  thought.§ 

Beginning  life  as  a  minnesinger,  Van  Maerlant 
soon  gave  up  the  composition  of  madrigals  to  devote 
himself  to  sacred  and  profane  histor}-.  Henceforth 
his  writings  were  didactic  ;  and  he  taught  his  coun- 
trymen philosophy,  and  medicine,  and  the  natural 
sciences,  through  the  medium  of  his  verse.  He  dealt 
the  Romanists  of  his  age  a  hard  blow,  and  when 

*  Delepierre,  p.  31.  t  Ibid.,  p.  19. 

t  Ibicl.,Bowrmg,Hallam.      § Bowring, Batav.  Auth.,pp.  i;'>,  14. 


94  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

he  touched  upon  the  duties  of  men,  his  pure  and 
vigorous  style  enabled  him  to  demonstrate  that  a 
title  of  nobility  is  something  more  than  a  sheet  of 
parchment,  and  that  the  virtue  of  a  priest  does  not 
lie  in  his  tonsure.* 

Inveighing  against  the  vices  of  the  church,  he 
put  the  Bible  into  verse,  "  What,"  says  he,  "  the 
reading  of  the  Bible  is  forbidden  to  the  people,  and 
they  listen  to  the  adventures  of  Tristan  and  Laun- 
celot,  imaginary  personages,  while  throughout  the 
world  love  and  war  stories  alone  are  read,  and  the 
Gospel  is  thought  to  be  too  grave  because  it  teaches 
truth  and  justice."t  And  he  exclaims  again,  "Is 
Antichrist  already  come  into  the  world  ?  If  I  dared, 
I  would  say,  Yes.  Let  a  cunning  serf  become  a  judge 
or  a  priest,  and  he  will  be  listened  to  in  the  councils 
of  princes.  Does  a  fool  become  a  grain  the  wiser  by 
increasing  the  size  of  his  tonsure  even  to  his  ears  ?"| 

This  energetic  and  unwonted  language  gradually 
acted  on  the  awakening  minds  of  the  Hollanders, 
and  abandoning  lighter  reading,  they  opened  books 
of  history  and  science :  the  useful  began  to  prevail 
over  the  merely  entertaining.  The  classics  began  to 
be  dug  up.  The  best  thoughts  of  the  ancients  were 
pondered  and  acted  upon,  so  that  Van  Maerlant 
himself  could  sing  with  truth  : 

' '  All  these  realities  have  we  sought, 
And  out  of  Latin  to  Dutch  brought, 
From  the  books  of  Aristotle.  "'^ 

*  Deiepierre,  p.  38.  f  Ibid.     .         t  Ibid.,  pp.  41,  42. 

^  Bowi'ing,  Catav.  Anth.,  p.  G?>. 


ETJDIMENTS  OF  THE  BEFORMATION.   95 

This  iconoclastic  poet  had  many  admirers  and  im- 
itators: a  race  of  nobler  minnesingers  was  begotten 
by  his  stately  verse.  Then  the  stream  of  literature 
began  to  gather  as  it  rolled  a  thousand  contribu- 
ting rivulets.  In  the  fourteenth  century  the  Cham- 
bers of  Rhetoric  were  founded.  Diest  lays  claim  to 
the  possession  of  a  poetical  society  as  early  as  1302  ;* 
and  ere  long  the  "Rhetoricers"  covered  Flanders 
and  Brabant.  The  object  of  these  associations  was 
the  cultivation  and  exercise  of  letters ;  and  though 
they  introduced  much  exaggeration  of  expression, 
and  many  foreign  idioms,  their  influence  could  not 
fail  to  make  for  progress  at  that  time,  by  awakening 
thought  and  rewarding  literary  effort. 

It  is  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans  that  we  are  in- 
debted for  the  theatre  in  its  modern  sense ;  but  the 
muse  of  iEschylus  and  of  Terence  had  long  been 
silent,  and  when  the  Chambers  of  Rhetoric  resur- 
rected the  drama,  it  took  a  different  form,  became 
the  repository  of  mediaeval  Christianity,  and  was 
surrendered  to  scenic  representations  of  the  life 
of  Christ.f  At  a  later  day  these  religious  plays 
became  the  engines  of  reform.  Rhetoricers  making 
the  circuit  of  the  provinces,  satirized  the  abuses  and 
immorahties  of  the  clergy  through  the  theatrical 
representations,  and  thus  helped  largely  to  break 
the  charm  of  the  Roman  church  :|  for  ridicule  is 
the  most  potent  of  spell-breakers.   But  the  crowning 

*  Delopierre,  p.  03.  f  H^iil- 

X  Eo^v^ing,  Sketch  of  Lang,  and  Lit.  of  HoL,  p.  28.  Schiller, 
p.  381. 


96  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

acliievement  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  the  invention 
of  the  printing  press.  "  At  the  very  moment  when 
PhiHp  the  Good,  in  the  full  blaze  of  his  power  and 
flushed  with  the  triumphs  of  territorial  aggran- 
dizement, was  instituting  at  Bruges  the  famous 
order  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  '  to  the  glory  of  God,  of 
the  blessed  Virgin,  and  of  the  holy  St.  Andrew,  pa- 
tron saint  of  the  Burgundian  family,'  and  enrolling 
the  names  of  the  kings  and  princes  Avho  were  to  be 
honored  with  its  symbols,  an  obscure  citizen  of 
Haarlem,  Lorenz  Koster,  succeeded  in  jDrinting  a 
little  grammar  by  means  of  movable  type.*  The 
invention  of  printing  was  accomplished,  but  it  was 
not  ushered  in  with  such  a  blaze  of  glory  as  her- 
alded the  contemporaneous  erection  of  the  Golden 
Fleece.  The  humble  setter  of  type  did  not  deem 
emperors  and  princes  alone  worthy  of  his  compan- 
ionship. This' invention  sent  no  thrill  of  admiration 
throughout  Christendom ;  and  yet  what  was  Philip 
of  Burgundy,  with  his  knights  of  the  Golden  Fleece, 
and  all  their  effulgent  trumpery,  in  the  eye  of  human- 
ity and  civilization,  compared  with  this  poor  citizen 
and  his  wooden  type  ?"t 

From  this  time  popular  intelligence   marched 
forward  with  vast  strides  and  to  assured  triumph. 

*  The  question  of  the  iuventiou  of  printing  has  long  been  a 
mooted  one.  Germany  claims  it  for  Faust,  Holland  for  Koster. 
It  will  most  probably  never  be  satisfactorily  settled.  Biit  all  the 
Netherland  historians  give  Koster  the  honor,  fixing  the  time  vari- 
ously between  the  years  1423  and  1440.  The  first  and  faulty  edi- 
tions of  Koster  are  still  religiously  preserved  at  Haarlem. 

t  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  45. 


EUDIMENTS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.    97 

Eome  could  no  longer  monopolize  learning.  Books 
soon  became  cheap  and  plenty;  and  whereas  men 
before  were  shut  up  to  the  use  of  manuscripts,  and 
for  one  copy  of  the  Bible  tolerably  written  upon 
Yellum,  were  wont  to  pay  five  hundred  crowns,  now 
as  the  art  of  printing  grew  common  they  might  buy 
one  for  four  crowns.  Thus  the  people  who  could 
not  reach  the  price  of  the  Scriptures  in  mamiscript, 
found  it  easy  to  purchase  and  read  them  in  Roster's 
prints.*  Towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century 
a  Dutch  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  was  made 
from  the  Vulgate,  and  this,  first  printed  in  1477,  is 
at  once  a  monument  of  language  and  a  remarkable 
specimen  of  primitive  typography.! 

Thus  "  all  things  worked  together  for  good." 
The  first  protests  of  the  monks ;  the  worn  voices  of 
the  Waldenses;  the  songs  and  plays  of  the  minne- 
singers; and  Roster's  type — these  were  rudiments 
of  reform,  the  creators  of  thought;  and  growing 
knowledge  was  the  spear  of  Ithuriel,  whose  touch 
made  masked  impiet}^  and  hidden  despotism  start 
up  and  reveal  themselves.  The  world,  long  agoni- 
zing to  speak,  now  possessed  the  most  potent  of 
voices.  Analysis  began.  Men  of  nisi — "  I  take  an 
exception ;"  and  of  dislinguo — "  I  draw  a  distinction," 
entered  the  long-closed  temple  to  investigate  and  to 
dispute.  Christendom  was  at  last  prepared  to  listen 
intelligently  to  the  protest  of  the  Eeformation,  stood 
ready  to  shout,  "Welcome  Luther,  and  all  hail." 

*  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  23. 

f  Bowring,  Sketch  of  the  Lit.  and  Lang,  of  Hoi.,  p.  27. 

Dutch  Ref.  5 


98  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 


CHAPTEK   V. 

THE   GERMAN  C^SAE. 

When,  iu  1515,  Charles  Y.,*  a  boy  of  fifteen, 
placed  the  crown  upon  his  brow  and  grasped  the 
sceptre,  the  Netherlands  had  reached  the  acme  of 
material  prosperity.  The  tamest  portrait  of  their 
condition  looks  like  exaggeration.  Seventeen  prov- 
inces,! huddled  in  an  obscure  morass,  extending, 
when  counted  together,  but  three  hundred  Flemish 
miles,  covering  an  area  not  a  fifth  part  as  large  as 
Italy,  had  dug  themselves  out  of  the  mud,  and  now 
stood  bathed  in  the  meridian  sun  of  a  splendor 
as  unexampled  as  it  was  honorable. 

Grouped  within  this  narrow  neck  of  land  were 
three  hundred  and  fifty  cities,  humming  with  trade, 
alive  with  industry,  many  of  them  fortified  by  their 
natural  position,  and  secure  without  artificial  bar- 
riers, six  thousand  three  hundred  market-towns  of 
a  large  size,  and  scores  of  farming  hamlets  and 
picturesque  castles,  imparting  to  the  landscape  a 
singular  aspect  of  unbroken,  breatliing  life ;  while 

*  Chap.  3,  pp.  77,  78. 

f  The  duchies  of  Brabant,  Limbnrg,  Luxembourg,  and  Guel- 
ders,  the  seven  counties  of  Artois,  Hainault,  Flanders,  Namur, 
Ziitphen,  Holland,  and  Zealand,  the  margravate  of  AntweriJ,  and 
the  five  lordships  of  Friesland,  Mechliu,  Utrecht,  Overj'ssel,  and 
Groningen. 


THE  GERMAN  C^SAR.  99 

the  whole  was  guarded  by  a  belt  of  sixty  fortresses 
of  maiden  fame,  hitherto  iincaptured.* 

Antwerp  was  at  this  time  the  commercial  metrop- 
lis  of  Europe,  the  entrejMt  and  the  exchange  of 
nations.  She  scrawled  "Antwerp"  on  her  bills, 
and  they  passed  current  from  Peru  to  Pekin,  Beau- 
tifully seated  on  a  plain  beside  the  river  Scheldt, 
shaped  like  a  bent  bow,  with  the  water  for  its 
string,  the  city  had  long  been  a  bustling  one  ; 
but  it  was  indebted  to  a  recent  discovery  for  its 
sudden  importance.  The  Levant  trade  no  longer 
rolled  overland  to  pour  itself  into  Europe  through 
the  Italian  cities ;  it  now  took  shii?,  and  sailing 
round  the  cape  of  Good  Hope,  landed  in  Portugal 
for  European  distribution — a  divergence  which  rev- 
olutionized the  commerce  of  the  Middle  ages,t  help- 
ed largely  to  wither  the  Hanseatic  league,  and  sent 
ruin  into  the  counting-rooms  of  the  Mediterranean ; 
robbed  Genoa  of  her  sails;  and  degraded  the  city 
of  the  doges  to  sit  a  beggar  amid  the  broken  pil- 
lars and  defaced  frescoes  of  her  choked  and  weedy 
palaces — gave  her  nothing  to  do  but  bathe  her  feet 
in  the  stagnant  waters  of  her  canaJs,  and  hug  the 
bitter  memory  of  the  past. 

On  this  ruin  the  new  metropolis  fed  and  was 
fattened;  and  w^hile  Verona,  Venice,  Nuremburg, 
Augsburg,  Bruges,  were  sinking,  Antwerp,  with  its 
deep  and  convenient  river,  stretched  its  arm  to  the 
ocean  and  caught  the  golden  prize  as  it  fell  from 

«  Schiller,  p.  388.     Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  91. 
t  Van  Loou,  Grotius. 


100  THE  DUTCH  KEFOKMATION. 

its  sister-cities'  grasp.*  The  Portuguese  established 
the  mart  of  their  East  India  trade  in  Brabant,  and 
"  the  spices  of  Calicut  were  displayed  for  sale  in 
the  markets  of  Antwerp. "t  Here,  too,  centred  the 
West  Indian  merchandise,  with  which  the  haughty 
indolence  of  Spain  repaid  the  industry  of  the  Neth- 
erland  burghers.  Here  the  Hanse  towns  stored  the 
manufactures  of  the  north.:j:  Here  the  English  had 
a  factory  which  employed  thirty  thousand  hauds.§ 
And  here,  on  the  new  Eialto,  the  great  mediaeval 
commercial  houses,  the  Gaulteratti  and  Bouvisi  of 
Italy,  the  Velseus,  the  Ostetts,  the  Fuggers  of  Ger- 
many, established  themselves  and  competed  for 
custom.il  * 

Hundreds  of  splendid  buildings  dignified  the 
city.  Here  was  the  cathedral  of  Notre  Dame ;  here 
the  stately  Exchange,  thronged  daily  by  five  thou- 
sand merchants,  prototype  of  all  similar  establish- 
ments throughout  the  world.l 

In  its  harbor  between  two  and  three  hundred 
ships  might  often  be  seen  loading  at  one  time;  "no 
day  passed  on  which  the  boats  casting  or  weighing 
anchor  did  not  exceed  five  hundred;  on  market- 
days  the  number  was  swollen  to  eight  or  nine  hun- 
dred. Daily  more  than  two  hundred  carriages 
drove  through  its  gates;  above  two  thousand  heav- 
ily-laden Avagons  arrived  each  week  from  Germany, 

«  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  82. 

t  Schiller,  p.  374.     Van  Metereu,  Hist,  cler  Neclerlanden. 

I  Ibid.  §  Camiues,  Prexxves  des  Meinoires. 

II  Van  Meteren,  Schiller,  Motley.  IT  Ibid. 


THE  GERMAN  C^SAR.  101 

France,  Lorraine,  without  reckoning  the  farmers' 
carts  and  corn-vans,  seldom  less  than  ten  thousand 
in  number."*  Thus  it  was  that,  while  the  culture 
of  grain,  flax,  the  breeding  of  cattle,  grazing,  the 
chase,  and  fisheries  enriched  the  peasant,  arts, 
manufactures,  and  trade  brought  wealth  to  the 
burgher,  sent  Flemish  and  Brabantine  manufac- 
tures to  either  India,  and  as  far  east  as  Araby  and 
the  Persian  stejDpes,  making  this  the  distinctive 
characteristic  of  the  Netherland  seaman — that  he 
made  sail  at  all  seasons,  and  never  laid  up  for  the 

winter  4 

Antwerp  had  a  twin,  Ghent;  like  itself  one  of 
the  most  important  and  influential  cities  in  Europe. 
"  Erasmus,  who,  as  a  Hollander  and  a  courtier,  was 
not  likely  to  be  partial  to  the  turbulent  Flemings, 
asserted,"  so_  Motley  reports,  "  that  there  was  no 
town  in  Christendom  to  be  compared  with  it  for 
size,  power,  political  constitution,  or  the  culture  of 
its  citizens.  It  was  rather  a  country  than  a  city. 
The  activity  and  wealth  of  its  burghers  was  prover- 
bial. The  bells  were  rung  daily,  and  the  draw- 
bridges over  the  many  arms  of  the  river  which 
intersected  the  streets  were  raised  in  order  that 
business  might  be  suspended  while  the  armies  of 
workmen  were  going  to  or  returning  from  their 
labors.  As  early  as  the  fourteenth  century,  the  age 
of  the  Arteveldes,  Froissart  estimated  that  Ghent 
could  bring  eighty  thousand  men-at-arms  into  the 
field;  and  now,  by  its  jurisdiction  over  many  other 

*  ScliiUcr,  p.  375.  t  I^id.,  374 


102  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

large  but  subordinate  towns,  it  could  muster  up- 
wards of  two  liundred  thousand. 

"  Placed  in  the  midst  of  well-cultivated  plains, 
Ghent  was  surrounded  by  strong  walls,  the  external 
circuit  of  which  measured  nine  miles.  Its  streets 
and  squares  were  spacious  and  elegant ;  its  church- 
es and  public  buildings  were  many  and  splendid. 
The  sumptuous  church  of  St.  John,  where  Charles 
V.  had  been  baptized,  the  ancient  castle  whither 
Baldwin  Bras  de  Fcr  had  brought  the  stolen 
daughter  of  Charles  the  Bald,  the  City  Hall,  with, 
its  graceful  Moorish  front,  the  well-known  belfry, 
w^here  for  three  centuries  had  perched  the  dragon 
sent  by  the  emperor  Baldwin  of  Flanders  from 
Constantinople,  and  where  swung  the  famous  Ro- 
land, w^hose  iron  tongue  had  called  the  citizens, 
generation  after  generation,  to  arms — all  were  con- 
spicuous in  the  city  and  celebrated  in  the  land. 
Especially  the  great  bell  was  the  object  of  the 
burghers'  affection,  and  generally  of  the  sover- 
eign's hatred";  while  to  all  it  seemed  a  living  per- 
sonage, endowed  with  the  human  powers  and  pas- 
sions which  it  had  so  long  inflamed  and  directed."* 

Both  Antwerp  and  Ghent  were  essential  repub- 
lics in  miniature.  Each  guarded  its  charters — the 
trophies  of  a  dozen  centuries  of  toil  and  struggle — 
with  jealous  care.  Each  was  scrupulously  watch- 
ful of  the  personal  and  domiciliary  rights  of  the 
citizen.  Ghent  divided  its  i)opulation  into  fifty-two 
guilds  of  manufacturers,  and  thirty-two  tribes  of 

«  Motley,  vol.  1,  pp.  53,  GO. 


THE  GEKMAN  C^SAK.  103 

weavers ;  each  fraternity  elected  its  own  deans  and 
subordinate  officers  annually  or  biennially.  The 
city  senate,  composed  of  twenty-six  members,  was 
tlie  administrative  and  judicial  power;  but  was 
subject  to  the  supervision  of  the  grand  provincial 
council  which  sat  at  Mechlin.^'  Antwerp  was  gov- 
erned by  the  sovereign — solemnly  swoAi  as  Mar- 
quis of  Antwerp  to  rule  under  the  charters — who 
shared  his  authority  with  the  four  municipal  es- 
tates— the  senate,  the  deans  of  the  guilds,  and  two 
officers  called  respectfully  the  schout  and  the  am- 
man,  who  represented  the  king,  one  in  criminal, 
the  other  in  civil  affairs. t 

The  condition  of  the  people  at  large  correspond- 
ed with  t}ie  importance  and  wealth  of  their  cities. 
Thrift  had  dowered  them  with  plenty.  "There 
were  but  few  poor;  and  these  did  not  seek,  but 
were  sought  by  the  almoners.  Schools  were  excel- 
lent and  cheap.  It  was  difficult  to  find  a  child  of 
sufficient  age  who  could  not  read,  write,  and  speak 
at  least  two  languages ;  and  the  sons  of  the  wealth- 
ier citizens  were  sent  to  the  universities  of  Louvain, 
Douay,  Paris,  or  Padua,  where  education,  though 
feeling  the  onward  movement  of  the  age,  still  pre- 
served its  monkish  spirit,  and  now  wrapped  learn- 
ing in  the  ancient  cere-cloths,  and  the  stiffening 
sarcophagus  of  a  by-gone  age  which  had  once  saved 
it  from  annihilation. "I 

'Tis  a  high  saying  of  Macaulay  that  "The  man- 

*  Motley,  vol.  1,  pp.  83,  81.     Van  Meteren.  t  Ibid. 

J  Ibid.     Schiller,  pp.  388,  389. 


104  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

iier  in  which  a  nation  treats  its  women  is  a  correct 
criterion  of  its  civiHzation."  In  the  Netherlands, 
woman's  influence  was  broad  and  healthful.  There 
the  harems  of  the  East,  the  jealous  surveillance  of 
the  Spaniard,  the  hothouse  culture  of  the  mediaeval 
epoch,  when  woman  was  looked  on  {1,s  the  toy  of 
passion,  a?  a  drudge  to  be  watched,  were  happily 
unknown.  Treated  as  sentient  beings,  the  Dutch 
girls  mixed  from  infancy  with  all  classes  and  sexes, 
travelled  alone,  and  so  became  self-reliant,  frank, 
courteous  ;  while  their  morals  were  as  pure  as  their 
decorum  was  undoubted.*  Distinguished  by  beauty 
of  feature  and  form,  and  glowing  with  health,  they 
were  fond  of  dress — a  taste  which  their  burgher 
husbands,  fatliers,  lovers,  were  always  eager  to 
gratify.  "  Eeally,"  exclaimed  a  queen  of  France, 
with  astonishment  not  ulimixed  with  envy,  when  on 
a  visit  to  Bruges  she  witnessed  the  splendor,  the 
fine  linen,  silk,  and  velvet  in  which  the  common 
ladies  were  habited,  "  really,  I  thought  myself  the 
only  queen  here  ;  but  I  see  six  hundred  others  who 
appear  more  so  than  I."t 

No,  the  Dutchman  did  not  think  with  that  old 
Chinese  sage  whom  Aristotle  endorsed,  "A  wife 
should  be  a  shadow  and  an  echo  in  the  house."  He 
enthroned  her  in  his  heart  and  at  his  hearthstone, 
where  she  became  the  genius  of  economy  and  order  J 
while  each  addition  to  her  influence  was  a  step  in 
morality.  Not  only  so,  but  as,  in  Italy,  Vittoria 
Colonna  and  Yeronia  Gambara  were  the  friends  and 
■=■'  Motley,  vol.  1,  p,  91.     Comiucs.  f  Grattan,  p.  75. 


THE  GERMAN  C^SAR,  105 

equals  of  Michael  Angelo,  the  women  of  the  Neth- 
erlands became  the  counsellors  of  princes,  the  silent 
heroines  of  suffering,  the  inspiration  of  many  thril- 
ling dramas  of  the  revolution,  the  jewelled  setting 
of  the  picture  of  Low  Country  life. 

It  has  been  said  that  modern  civilization  gets  its 
conscience  from  the  Hebrew,  its  brains  from  the 
Greek,  and  its  hands  from  the  Koman.  The  Neth- 
erlander was  heir  to  this  inheritance — indeed,  he 
was  the  Yankee  of  the  middle  ages.  Never  a  nig- 
gard, he  was  yet  an  economist,  and  knew  how  to 
utilize.  His  cattle,  grazing  on  the  bottom  of  the 
sea,  were  the  finest  in  Europe."  His  agriculture 
was  esteemed  the  wisest  in  Christendom. t  That 
he  could  make  money  we  know,  as  also  that  his 
liberality  kept  pace  with  his  opulence.  When  John 
the  Fearless  was  captured  at  the  battle  of  Nicopolis, 
a  single  merchant  of  Bruges  ransomed  him  at  two 
hundred  thousand  ducats.|  And  once  a  provost  o^ 
Valenciennes,  visiting  Paris  during  one  of  the  great 
fairs  periodically  held  there,  purchased,  on  his  own 
account,  every  article  that  was  for  sale.§ 

Nor  was  the  Netherlander  content  to  grub  for 
wealth  alone.  Ranging  above  the  splendid  linens, 
woollens,  silks,  and  tapestries  which  his  looms  wove, 
he  became  an  inventor,  an  artist,  a  discoverer — 
work  to  which  his  genius,  developed  by  commerce, 
and  by  intercourse  with  many  nations,  pushed 
him. II      In  the  lap  of  abundance  and  liberty,  all 

•"-  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  90.  f  Ibid. 

J  Grattun,  p.  75.     Guicciarclini.      §  Ibitl.       |I  Schiller,  p.  375. 


106  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

arts,  all  sciences,  Avere  cultivated  and  perfected. 
From  Italy,  to  wliicli  Cosmo  de'  Medici  had  lately 
restored  its  golden  age,  painting,  arcliitectnre,  and 
the  arts  of  carving  and  engraving  on  copper,  were 
transplanted  into  the  Netherlands,  where,  in  a 
new  soil,  they  flourished  with  fresh  vigor.* 

The  Flemish  artists  were  the  brotfiers  of  Titian - 
and  the  teachers  of  Angelo.  One  of  their  number, 
John  Yan  Eyck,  discovered  the  art  of  painting  in 
oil,  and  thereby  immortalized  the  vivid  touches  of 
the  brush,- the  sweet  blushes  of  the  canvas. t  The 
Dutch  musicians  were  the  first  in  Europe — the 
instructors  of  Italy,  the  amusers  of  France.!  The 
weaving  of  tapestry,  the  art  of  painting  on  glass,  of 
polishing  diamonds,  of  making  sun-dials  and  pocket 
watches — all  these,  so  Guicciardini  tells  us,  were  the 
original  inventions  of  Low  Country  workmen.§ 
Even  the  points  of  the  compass  were  known  by 
Flemish  names ;  and  when  Koster  f)erfected  his 
type,  the  industrial  pyramid  of  the  Netherlands 
was  capped,  while  the  Dutch,  seizing  the  new 
engine,  recognized  it  from  the  outset  as  an  eman- 
cipator. Where  they  did  not  originate,  they  per- 
fected; for  Schiller  says,  "The  people  of  the 
Netherlands  united  with  the  most  fertile  inventive 
genius  a  happy  talent  for  improving  the  discoveries 
of  others ;  so  that  there  are  probably  few  of  the 
mechanical  arts  and  manufactures  which  they  did 
not  either  produce  or  perfect."ll 

*  Scliiller,  p.  375.  f  Grattau,  p.  75.     Guicciardiui. 

X  Ibid.  §  Guicciardiui.  ||  Schiller,  p.  37G. 


THE   GERMAN  CvESAR.  107 

While  the  Netherlands,  as  a  Avhole,  were  thus 
felicitously  circumstanced,  Freieland  had  been  tem- 
porarily "WTenched  from  her  connection  with  the 
sister  provinces,  partly  by  natural,  partly  by  politi- 
cal causes.  In  the  thirteenth  century,  the  slender 
stream  which  alone  separated  East  and  West  Freis- 
land  was  swollen  into  the  Zuyder  Zee  by  a  tremen- 
dous inundation.  A  watery  chasm  yawned  between 
kindred  people,  destroying  at  once  the  j)olitical  and 
geographical  continuity  of  the  land.  West  Freis- 
land  was  ere  long  absorbed  in  Holland  ;  the  eastern 
section,  isolated,  left  somewhat  free,  became  a 
federation  of  self-governing  maritime  provinces. 
Each  of  its  seven  little  states  was  subdivided  into 
cantons,  governed  by  their  own  laws  and  by  griet- 
men  of  their  own  selection  ;  while  the  whole  confed- 
eracy was  ruled  by  an  annual  congress,  presided 
over  by  the  podesta,  an  elective  magistrate  identical 
in  name  and  functions  with  the  chief  officer  of  the 
Italian  commonwealths.* 

Here  there  were  few  towns,  no  magnificence. 
The  people  lived  in  patriarchal  simplicity.  Their 
fine  instinct  had  led  them  to  curb  the  clerical 
power ;  priests  were  not  recognized  as  a  political 
estate  ;t  monasteries  were  not  common,  but  they 
existed ;  and  one  of  the  old  chroniclers  relates  that 
a  convent  of  Benedictines  was  once  terrified  at  the 
voracity  of  a  Saxon  sculptor,  who  had  been  employ- 
ed to  decorate  the  chapel.  The  monks  implored 
him  to  go  elsewhere  for  his  meals,  because  he  and 
«  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  37,  d  seq.  f  Cf rattan,  pp.  31,  32. 


108  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

his  sous  consumed  euough  to  eat  out  the  enth's 
brotherhood  in  a  we«k.*  The  Frisians  were  sure  to 
become  civihzed,  for  they  had  capacious  stomachs. 

In  the  last  years  of  the  fifteenth  century,  Maxi- 
mihan  had  prevailed  upon  East  Freisland  to  elect 
the  duke  of  Saxony  as  podesta  ;t  and  when  Charles  Y. 
succeeded  to  his  paternal  inheritance  in  the  Low 
Countries,  the  Saxons  held  the  nominal  sovereignty 
of  Freisland — a  title  which  he  purchased,^  thereby 
reuniting  a  kindred  race. 

In  1516,  the  ambitious  boy  caused  himseK  to  be 
proclaimed  king  of  Spain,  in  right  of  his  mother, 
mad  queen  Joanna  ;§  and  a  few  years  later  his  skil- 
ful intrigues  won  for  him  the  imperial  crown  of 
Germany,  which  made  him  sovereign  of  the  Neth- 
erlands, monarch  of  the  twin  kingdoms  of  Spain, 
lord  of  the  two  Sicilies,  duke  of  Milan,  emperor  of 
Germany,  dominator  of  Asia,  Africa,  America,  auto- 
crat of  half  the  world  :ll  and  this  combination  of 
titles  gained  him  also  that  other  surname  of  the 
German  Caesar. 

■"■  Cliron.  Menconis  Abb.  in  Weram. 
f  Motley,  Yol.  1,  p.  55.     Grotius,  Vau  Metereu. 
t  Grattan,  p.  67. 

§  Krobertson,  Hist,  of  the  Eeign  of  Charles  V.,  vol.  1,  p.  189, 
el  seq.  ||  Ibid. ,  passim. 


THE  NEW  REGIME.  109 

CHAPTER   VI. 

THE   NEW   KfiGIME. 

Time  is  the  finest  of  organizers,  the  greatest  of 
reformers.  It  transforms  impediments  into  instru- 
ments, and  subdues  the  most  formidable  mischiefs 
of  the  past  into  the  most  useful  slaves  of  the  future. 
Growth  itself  is  the  fruit  of  time  ;  and  growth  is 
but  another  name  for  progress.  "  The  fossil  strata," 
says  Emerson,  "  show  us  that  nature  began  with 
rudimental  forms,  and  rose  to  the  more  complex  as 
fast  as  the  earth  was  fit  for  their  dwelling-place ; 
and  that  the  lower  perish  as  the  higher  aj)pear."* 

Civilization  is  a  similar  development,  unfolding 
naturally  from  its  causes.  In  the  sixteenth  century 
these  causes  flowered.  Want  with  its  scourge,  war 
Avith  its  cannonade,  trade  with  its  money,  art  with 
its  portfolios,  had  long  tapped  the  tough  chrysalis  ; 
but  the  vivifying  power  still  lagged,  until  reformed 
Christianity  came  with  its  charity,  with  its  spiritu- 
ality, with  its  holiness,  and  broke  the  shell,  set  the 
dull  nerves  throbbing,  and  helped  the  new  epoch 
to  emerge  erect  and  free.f 

Thus  out  of  the  past  there  grew  at  last  an  age 
whose  "  mouth  was  to  speak  gi'cat  things  ;"  words 
which  should  liberate  the  human  soul,  long  a  pris- 
oner in  the  Vatican  ;|  whose  hands  were  to  new- 
s' Emerson,  Conduct  of  Life,  -p.  143.  f  Ibid. 
X  "L'Anima  nostra  e  sempre  prigioniera  nel  Vaticano."  De 
Boui,  La  Chiesa  Romana  e  1'  Italia,  p.  19. 


110  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

model  the  map  of  Europe.  The  dawning  atmo- 
sphere of  the  sixteenth  century  was  heavy  with  rev- 
okition.  Widespread  abuses  necessitated  change, 
Rome  had  touched  the  muddiest  bottom,  and  Hke 
Jerrold's  profligate,  insisted  with  drunken  gravity 
that  all  mankind  should  lie  beside  it  in  the  gutter ; 
to  which  decent  men  objected.  In  an  age  of  rising 
intelligence  and  progressive  tendency,  the  Holy  See 
held  to  the  maxims,  preached  the  dogmas,  and 
claimed  the  absurd,  wornout  prerogatives  of  the 
darkest  epochs — set  itself  in  resolute  O2323osition  to 
the  spirit  of  the  time.  The  pontiffs  became  a  tribe 
of  deplorers  and  copiers.  They  esteemed  the  vir- 
tues of  the  present  vices,  and  the  vices  of  the  past 
virtues.  They  stoned  the  saints  of  their  day,  and 
canonized  mediaeval  sinners.  They  endeavored  to 
manufacture  the  antique,  and  strove  to  reenact  the 
Innocents  and  Hildebrands. 

In  the  meantime,  Platonism,  which  the  Medici 
had  resurrected  in  Italy,  the  communal  idea,  which 
had  grown  from  the  German  municipalities,  the 
printing  j)i'ess,  and  the  Waldense  protests  in  the 
Netherlands,  all  combined  to  spread  intelligence 
and  to  awaken  inquiry.  Then  a.  new  power  arose — 
public  opinion ;  for  heretofore  there  had  been  but 
two  kinds  of  opinion,  the  opinion  clerical,  and 
the  opinion  baronial.  Enlightenment  popularized 
thought ;  and  thought  was  the  pool  of  Siloam,  in 
Avhicli  blind  Europe  bathed  its  eyes  and  recovered 
sight.  Suddenly  men  saw,  and  what  they  saw  both 
shocked   and    amazed    them.      An   ecclcsiasticism 


THE  NEW  REGIME.  HI 

wliicli  they  had  immemorially  worshipped  as  an 
inspiration  and  a  saviour,  revealed  itself  as  the 
m(5&t  brazen  of  mountebanks,  whose  greed  was 
insatiable,  whose  morals  were  licentious  to  a  prov- 
erb, whose  schemes  looked  only  to  self-aggrandize- 
ment, whose  forged  keys  rattled  only  to  lure  men  to 
destruction. 

Such  was  the  awakening  of  the  human  intellect ; 
and  the  danger  was  that  the  force  of  the  rebound 
would  send  Europe  over  into  jeering  infidelity. 
Then  God  commissioned  a  second  band  of  apostles 
to  arrest  this  fate,  and  to  point  out  the  true  path — 
reformation,  not  abolition. 

Eome  banned  the  Bible ;  "  it  must  be  put  into 
all  hands,  and  diligently  searched,"-  said  Luther. 
Eome  promised  Paradise  as  the  reward  of  meri- 
torious works ;  "  it  must  be  won  by  prayer,  and 
faith,  and  a  renewed  sj)irit  through  Christ,"t  said 
Zwingle.  Eome  made  fine  distinctions  between 
the  priesthood  and  the  laity ;  "  we  are  all  sons  of 
God  and  heirs  of  heaven,  if  we  but  accept  the 
Saviour,"!  said  Melancthon.  Rome  talked  loudly 
of  the  supererogatory  merits  of  the  saints,  a  fund 
which  the  popes  administered,  and  labelled  "  indul- 
gences ;"  "  all  a  snare  and  a  delusion, "§  said  Bucer. 
Eome  rattled  the  keys  of  St.  Peter ;  "  they  are 
forged,"||   said   Luther.     Eome   claimed   and  held 

*  John  5  :  39.  f  Gal.  2  :  IG  ;  Eom.  5:1;  Eom.  3  :  28. 

X  Gal.  3  :  26  ;  2  Cor.  6  :  18  ;  Eom.  8  :  17. 

§  Vsn.  143  :2  ;  Augustine,  Confess.,  ix.  Luther,  L.  0pp.  Lat. 
1,211.  II  2Tliess.  11:9. 


112  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

the  temporal  sword ;  "  Clirist's  Idngdom  is  not  of 
tins  world  "*  said  Zwingle.  Eome  went  clothed  in 
purple  and  fine  linen  and  "  fared  sumptuously  ev?ry 
day ;"  "  the  Son  of  man  had  not  wdiere  to  lay  his 
head,"t  said  Melancthon.  Eome  forbade  the  clergy 
to  marry  ;  "  marriage  is  one  of  the  most  honorable 
of  earthly  estates,";!:  said  Bucer. 

These  and  kindred  sayings  spread  throughout 
Christendom  with  amazing  rapidity.  The  infant 
press  groaned  beneath  the  load  of  pamphlets  which 
were  printed  for  the  "healing  of  the  nations."§ 
The  writings  of  the  reformers  were  publicly  hawked 
by  the  booksellers  of  the  period,  and  by  hundreds 
of  monks  who  had  been  "born  into  the  Spirit."!! 
Everywhere  the  sheets  were  seized  and  scanned 
while  yet  wet  with  printer's  ink.l  In  the  castle  of 
the  noble,  in  the  dweUing  of  the  burgher,  in  the 
hovel  of  the  peasant,  nothing  was  talked  of  but  the 
Reformation. 

In  the  Netherlands  especially,  the  new  tenets 
received  the  most  speedy,  heartfelt,  and  unanimous 
welcome.**  For  this  there  were  many  reasons. 
Instinct  is  often  keener  than  intellect ;  and  the 
democratic  instincts  of  the  Netherlanders  had  long 
recognized  an  enemy  in  the  Eoman  oligarchy. 
They  w^ere  also  more  broadly  educated  than  any 
other  race.     Thinkers  from  habit,  they  had  always 

«  John  18  :  36.  f  Luke  9 .  58.  %  Matt.  19  :  4-6. 

§  Seckendorf,  Hist.  Eef.     D'Aubigne,  etc.  |1  Ibid. 

^  Michelet,  Life  of  M.  Luther. 
««  Schiller,  Duvies,  Motley,  Grotius,  Van  Loon,  Van  Meteren. 


THE  NEW  BEGIME.  113 

listened  half  incredulously  to  the  fables  of  the 
priests.  For  them  the  charm  of  the  papacy  was 
broken.  Their  cities  and  their  nobles  had  fre- 
quently united  to  curtail  ecclesiastical  estates. 
They  had  themselves  questioned,  and  they  had 
heard  others  question  many  of  the  assumed  prerog- 
atives of  the  Holy  See.  The  burghers  in  the  happy 
leisure  of  affluence,  had  forsaken  the  narrow  circle 
of  immediate  wants,  and  pushed  by  the  spirit  of 
independence,  which  is  wont  to  go  hand  in  hand 
with  abundance,  learned  to  examine  the  authority 
of  antiquated  opinions.*  Moreover,  in  a  country 
where  industry  was  the  most  lauded  virtue,  men- 
dicancy the  most  abhorred  vice,  a  slothful  horde  like 
the  monks  must  have  been  objects  of  long  and  deep 
aversion.! 

Thus  Komanism,  which  was  indigenous  to  Italy, 
«'as  an  exotic  in  the  Netherlands.  Kome  was  the 
antithesis  of  Holland.  ^  The  Dutch  were  half-prot- 
estantized before  the  Eeformation,  and  when  Luther 
began  to  preach,  they  instinctively  accepted  the 
pure  gospel.  If  Saxony  bore  and  nursed  the  re- 
form, Holland  was  the  guardian  and  defender  of  its 
maturer  growth.:]: 

A  happy  collocation  of  circumstances  attended 
the  inception  of  the  Eeformation.  The  elector 
Frederick  of  Saxony  shielded  Luther  from  the  first 
onset  of  Eome,  and  enabled  him  to  develop  and 
organize  the  principles  of  his  dissent.      In  1519, 

•--  Schiller,  p.  352.  \  Ibid.,  p.  381. 

X  Davics,  History  of  IloUaiid,  vol.  1,  p.  358. 


114  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION, 

Maximilian  died.  At  ouce  the  succession  had  as 
many  chaimants  as  Christendom  had  kings,  each  of 
whom  began  to  demonstrate  his  unquestionable 
right  to  wear  the  iaiperial  purple — a  right  which 
each  proved  to  be  just  as  clear  as  his  sword  was 
long.  In  the  interregnum  caused  by  this  squab- 
ble, the  disputed  dominions  were  without  a  defin- 
itive rule,  and  the  gospel  theology  was  thus  left 
free  to  ground  itself.  Finally,  Charles  Y.  clutched 
his  grandfather's  sceptre;*  and  ♦then  God  so  oc- 
cupied his  time  in  politics,  compelHng  him  to 
defend  himself  now  against  home-bred  mischief, 
now  against  the  Saracen,  that  the  environed  em- 
peror could  never  pause  long  enough  to  strangle 
heresy. 

For  there  were  political  as  well  as  moral  giants 
in  those  days.  A  constellation  of  great  princes 
gemmed  the  horizon.  Leo  X.  wore  the  tiara,  Hen- 
ry VIII.  ruled  England,  Francis  I.  was  king  of 
France;  and  while  Charles  Y.  was  being  crowned 
at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  one  of  the  most  accomplished, 
enterprising,  and  victorious  of  the  Turkish  sultans, 
Solyman  the  Magnificent,  ascended  the  Ottoman 
throne. t  Each  of  these  sovereigns  had  his  own 
ends  to  subserve,  and  a  singular  scrub-race  for 
power  ensued.  Leo  X.  used  all  the  arts  of  his  pro- 
tean see  to  cheat  Europe  into  a  new  crusade  against 
reform.     Henry  YIII.  fomented  discord,  and  then 

«  In  1520. 

■j-  Kobertsoii,  History  of  the  Reign  of  Charles  V.,  vol.  1,  p. 
234. 


THE  NEW  REGIME.  115 

laughed  at  those  he  had  entangled  from  the  safe 
distance  of  his  ishand  throne.  Francis  I.  was 
wresthng  with  Charles  V.,  and  8oljman,  the  con- 
stant and  formidable  rival  of  the  rest,  led  his  Mos- 
lem hordes  into  the  heart  of  Christendom,  planting 
the  Orient  now  here,  now  there;  for  in  those  days 
the  Porte  was  not  the  "  sick  man  "  of  Europe,  and 
its  continued  existence  had  not  become  a  mere 
diplomatic  juggle. 

Still,  spite  of  this  dizzy  and  incessant  rivalry, 
Charles  V.  did  make  spasmodic  efforts  to  curb  the 
prodigious  progress  of  the  innovating  tenets.  The 
same  astute  instinct  which  had  won  the  Nether- 
lands to  espouse  the  Reformation,  made  the  em- 
peror, a  despot  from  temper  and  position,  its  im- 
placable enemy,  for  he  recognized  in  it  the  essence 
of  republicanism.  As  a  papist  and  as  a  king,  he 
could  not  fail  to  despise  its  teachings,  and  to  perse- 
cute its  adherents. 

Besides,  there  were  other  causes  for  the  violence 
with  which  he  now  began  to  hack  the  Low  Country 
reformers — causes  which  aggravated  the  more  placid 
dislike  which  he  bore  to  tlie  innovation  generally 
into  a  passion  in  the  Netherlands.  Since  his  acces- 
sion to  the  Spanish  throne,  Charles  had  become 
accustomed  to  the  exercise  of  absolute  power.  In 
Aragon  and  Castile  he  was  an  irresponsible  despot, 
vexed  by  no  barriers,  troubled  by  no  questioners. 
But  when  he  entered  the  provinces  all  was  changed. 
There  he  was  only  the  first  citizen;  multitudinous 
checks,  in  the  form  of  privileges  and  charters, 
<*  Ivobertson,  ul  antea. 


116  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

•which  the  burghers  defended  and  extended  Avith 
unsleeping  vigilance,  constantly  fretted  and  thwart- 
ed his  arbitrary  will.  Inflated  with  pride,  stagger- 
ing beneath  titles,  and  habituated  to  the  submis- 
sion of  the  commons,  Cesar's  stomach  was  turned  by 
the  hardy  independence  of  the  haggling  burghers. 
"  This  talk  of  privileges  I  hate,"  said  he.* 

Moreover,  it  has  been  well  said  that,  as  the 
whole  government  of  the  fiimous  emperor  was  but 
one  tissue  of  plots  and  manceuvres  to  enhance  his 
authority,  it  was,*  of  course,  necessary  fi-om  his 
standpoint,  that  he  should  become  absolute  mas- 
ter of  the  various  links  of  his  mighty  empire, 
so  that  he  might  move  all  or  any  at  will,  effec- 
tuall}',  suddenly ;  and  this  necessitated  centrali- 
zation— he  must  make  himself  the  soul  of  his 
dominions.'!' 

In  the  execution  of  this  scheme,  Charles  met 
with  little  opposition  outside  of  the  Netherlands. 
There  the  citizens,  awakened  to  the  distrust  Avliich 
always  accomj^anies  comparative  weakness,  had 
never  before  been  so  alive  to  their  constitutional 
rights,  never  before  so  jealous  of  the  royal  preroga- 
tive.|  Violent  outbreaks  of  the  republican  spirit 
and  ominous  mutterings  warned  him  of  danger; 
yet  he  persisted,  and  even  made  insidious  prog- 
ress. 

He  subjected'  the  decrees  of  the  national  courts 
of  judicature  to  the  revision   of   a   royal  council 

*  Kobertson,  Hist,  of  the  Reign  of  Charles  V. 

t  SchiUer,  p.  378.  J  Ibiil.,  p.  377. 


THE  NEW  EEGIME.  117 

seated  in  Brussels,  and  Lis  echo.*  He  ousted  all 
doubtful  natives  from  office,  and  intrusted  the  most 
vital  functions  of  the  provinces  to  his  foreign  crea- 
tures— men  whose  only  tenure  of  office  was  his 
favor,  and  consequently  certain  to  infringe  privi- 
leges which  they  knew  to  be  obnoxious  to  their 
master,  but  of  which  otherwise  they  knew  nothing.! 
He,  like  his  predecessors,  regarded  the  provinces 
as  an  inexhaustible  bank,  on  which  he  might  draw 
at  will,  and  "  the  ever-increasing  expenses  of  his 
warlike  government  pushed  him  as  steadily  to 
augment  his  resources  ;  and  in  this,  trampling  on 
the  most  sacred  guarantees,  he  imposed  new  and 
strange  taxes.  To  preserve  jeven  the  name  of  their 
liberties,  the  states  were  forced  to  grant  what  he 
had  been  so  modest  as  not  to  extort ;  for  the  his- 
tory of  this  emperor's  government  in  the  Nether- 
lands is  a  continual  list  of  imposts  demanded, 
refused,  and  finally  accorded.  Contrary  to  the 
constitution,  he  introduced  mercenary  troops  into 
these  territories,  directed  the  recruiting  of  his  oft- 
decimated  armies  in  the  provinces,  and  involved 
his  burgher  subjects  in  wars  which  could  not 
advance  if  they  did  not  injure  their  interests,  and 
to  which,  against  all  precedents,  they  had  not  been 
even  so  much  as  asked  to  assent.":]: 

But  Charles  V.  was  much  too  sagacious  not  to 
foster  the  business  enterprise  of  the  Netherlands — 
the  exchequer  of  the  empire  ;  so  much  was  essen- 

«  Davies,  Hist,  of  Holland,  vol.  1,  p.  357.    Grotius.   Van  Loon, 
t  Ibid.     Van  Metorcn.  %  Schiller,  pp,  382,  383. 


118  THE  DUTCH  KEFORMATION. 

tial  to  Mie  success  of  his  politics.  Their  commerce 
was  his  strength ;  and  since  liberty  was  the  creator 
of  commerce,  he  spared  just  so  much  of  it  as  he 
could  work  over  into  the  sinews  of  war ;  which 
explains  why  he  did  not  strip  the  Low  Countries  of 
all  their  hated  privileges.'^ 

But  while  the  wily  emperor  did,  in  a  certain 
sense,  protect  and  enlarge  the  business  of  the 
states,  he  hit  upon  an  ingenious  plan  for  the  grad- 
ual impoverishment  of  the  most  wealthy  and  dan- 
gerous families  of  the  land.  "He  crippled  the 
great  vassals  of  the  crown  " — it  is  Schiller  who  says 
it — "by  expensive  embassies,  imder  the  specious 
pretext  of  honorary  distinctions.  Thus,  William  of 
Orange  was  despatched  to  Germany  with  the  impe- 
rial crown ;  and  Count  Egmont  was  commissioned 
to  conclude  the  marriage  contract  between  Philip 
and  Queen  Mary.  Both  afterwards  accompanied 
the  duke  of  Alva  to  France,  to  negotiate  the  new 
alliance  of  their  sovereign  with  Madame  Elizabeth. 
The  expenses  of  these  journeys  amounted  to  three 
hundred  thousand  florins,  towards  which  the  em- 
peror did  not  contribute  a  single  penny.  The 
Netherland  nobles  were  also  encouraged  to  keep 
open  table,  and  display  a  lavish  magnificence.  By 
these  and  kindred  arts,  the  nobles  were  soon  bank- 
rupt."t 

But    in    this   Charles   outAvitted   himself.     The 
great  vassals,  reduced  from  affluence  to  poverty, 
became   needy  adventurers,   and   finally  midnight 
e  Guiccip.rclini,  Dcscriptio  Belgii.      f  Schiller,  pp.  389,  391). 


THE  NEW  REGIME.  119 

conspirators — plotters  from  necessity  and  from 
pique ;  for,  already  ruined,  they  had  no  motive  to 
preserve  the  peace,  and  could  not  fail  to  gain  from 
revolution. 

When  the  emperor  had  thus  bled  the  Nether- 
lands, and,  as  he  supposed,  somewhat  thinned  the 
veins  of  their  exuberant  independence,  his  next  stei^* 
was  to  restrain  their  religious  liberty.*  At  the 
Diet  of  Worms,  in  1521,  he  formally  anathematized 
the  person  and  the  teachings  of  Martin  Luther.t 
This  anathema  was,  a  few  weeks  later,  pubHshed  in 
the  Low  Countries,  and  soon  supported  by  an  edict 
forbidding  the  composition  or  publication  of  lam- 
poons on  the  church,  or  of  any  writings  on  matters 
of  faith,  under  pain  of  "  punishment  according  to 
temi^oral  and  spiritual  justice ;"  terms  which  were 
afterwards  construed  to  mean  death  by  torture. :j; 

Spite  of  the  imperial  decree,  the  reformers  con- 
tinued to  talk,  write,  publish,  propagate.  In  1522, 
Charles  commissioned  a  special  agent  to  weed  out 
the  heretical  books,  and  fulminated  a  new  edict ; 
measures  which  proved  futile.§  Then  the  emperor, 
enraged  by  this  contemptuous  disregard  of  his 
parchment  fiats,  and  bent  on  convincing  Pope 
Leo — who  affected  to  doubt  his  zeal,  and  was  then 
coquetting  with  Francis  I.||  —of  the  sincerity  of  his 

*  Davies,  Tok  1,  p.  357.    Brandt. 

f  Eauko,  Hist  of  Popes,  Leo  X.     Mosheim.     Miclielet,  etc. 

%  Davies,  vol.  1,  p.  358. 

§  Brandt,  Hist,  of  Eef.  in  Low  Countries,  vol.  1,  book  ii. 

II  Robertson,  Hist,  of  Charles  V.,  p.  280,  et  seq. 


120  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

faith,  rained  a  tempest  of  decrees  upon  the  obsti- 
nate provinces. 

Bj  these,  to  open  the  evangelists  was  pronoun^ 
ced  a  crime ;  to  attend  any  meeting,  secret  or  pub- 
lic, to  which  religion  lent  its  name,  even  by  impli- 
cation, was  an  indictable  oJSence ;  to  converse  on 
4he  subject  of  reform,  at  home  as  abroad,  was 
damnation.*  Everywhere  unheard-of  courts  were 
established  to  enforce  these  laws ;  and  a  conviction 
of  holding,  diffusing,  or  listening  to  heretical  doc- 
trines was  death — if  a  man,  by  the  sword ;  if  a 
woman,  by  burial  alive.  Even  aj)ostacy  was  ban- 
ned, for  all  recanters  were  ordered  to  be  burned. f 

Despotic  politics  and  bastard  religion  now  clasp- 
ed hands  in  the  raid  on  freedom.  "  The  fiefs  of  the 
condemned  were  confiscated,  contrary  to  the  statute 
law,  which  permitted  the  heir  to  redeem  them  after 
payment  of  a  trifling  fine ;  and  in  defiance  of  an 
express  and  valuable  privilege  of  the  citizens  of 
Holland,  by  which  they  were  not  to  be  tried  out  of 
their  own  province,  culprits  were  forced  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  native  judicature,  and  condemned  by 
foreign  tribunals.  Thus  Romanism  guided  the  ftd- 
tering  hand  of  despotism,  to  attack  with  its  sacred 

'-■  Brandt,  Schiller,  Van  Meteren. 

f  Ibid.  "The  usual  mode  of  executing  the  punishment  of  burial 
alive  was  to  lay  the  victim  in  an  open  coffin,  placed  on  the  scaffold, 
of  a  length  and  breadth  just  sufficient  to  contain  her  ;  three  iron 
bars  were  then  placed,  one  on  the  neck,  another  t)n  the  stomach, 
and  a  third  on  the  legs  ;  through  a  hole  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
coffin  was  passed  a  rope,  fastened  round  the  neck,  which  the  exe 
ciationer  drew  tight  from  under  the  scaffold  as  the  body  was  cov- 
ered with  earth."    Davies,  vol.  1,  p.  383,  note. 


THE  NEW  REGIME.  121 

weapon,  and  without  danger  of  opposition,  liberties 
wliicli  were  inviolable  to  the  secular  arm."* 

But  these  appalling  preparations  could  not 
affright  the  dauntless,  and  they  made  no  converts, 
while  the  gospellers  still  prayed,  and  sang,  and 
spoke  of  Christ.t  Then  Charles  invoked  the  fire 
goblins.  On  the  first  of  July,  1523,  the  initial 
autos-da-fe  were  kindled  in  the  Netherlands.  Two 
Augustine  monks,  convicted  of  heresy,  were  drag- 
ged through  the  streets  of  awe-struck  Brussels,  and 
publicly  burned.^  "Alas,"  sighed  Erasmus,  the 
"  doubting  Simon  "  of  the  age,  the  twin  of  Bunyan's 
"Mr.  Facing-both-waj^s,"  "two  heretics  have  been 
burned  at  Brussels,  and  that  city  now  begins  stren- 
uousl}''  to  favor  Lutheranism."§ 

Some  eight  months  previous  to  these  executions, 
the  papal  throne,  left  vacant  by  the  premature 
decease  of  Leo  X.,  who  died  "  as  the  poppy 
fades,"i|  was  filled  by  the  election  of  the  venerable 
Cardinal  Tortosa,  who  reigned  under  the  title  of 
Adrian  VI.^  This  pontiff  was  a  Netherlander  by 
birth,  the  son  of  a  boat-maker,  educated  at  Lou- 
vain  by  charity,  and  by  nature  of  an  austere  and 
monastic  temper ;  but  his  genuine  piety  was  sadly 
distorted  by  those  prejudices  which  he  had  sucked 
out  of  the^livinity  of  the  schools."*  By  his  attempts 
at  the  regeneration,  in  some  sense,  of  his  church, 

«  Scliiller,  p.  383.  f  Braudt,  vol.  1,  book  ii,  passim. 

X  Ibid,  p.  49.     Motley.  §  Erasmus,  Epist. 

II  Kanke,  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  p.  31.  ^  Ibid. 

«»  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  47. 

Dutch  Eef.  () 


122  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

and  by  his  fierce  denunciation  of  the  reformers, 
he  won  the  hatred  of  both  parties  in  those  pas- 
sionate days,  dying  after  a  stormy  rule  of  twenty 
months,  profoundly  convinced  that  the  greatest 
misfortune  of  his  life  was  to  have  worn  the  triple 
crown.* 

Tortosa  was  in  his  turn  succeeded  by  the  crafty 
Giulio  de'  Medici,  who  took  the  name  of  Clement 
VII.  ;t  and  he,  dying  in  1534,  was  followed  by  a 
number  of  short-lived  pontiffs,  until,  on  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Dutch  Revolution  in  1566,  Pius 
Y.  was  on  the  throne.:]; 

But  while  the  history  of  the  pontificate  was 
marked  by  these  vicissitudes,  the  march  of  mighty 
necessities  which  swaj-ed  the  destiny  of  Christen- 
dom went  on  and  on,  fulfilling  Goethe's  maxim, 
"  Without  haste,  without  rest." 

In  1529,  the  clash  of  arms  ceased  for  a  moment, 
and  Europe  was  permitted  to  catch  breath  in  the 
pause  occasioned  by  the  treaty  of  Cambray,  some- 
times styled  the  "  Ladies'  Peace,"  because  it  was 
negotiated  by  two  statesmanlike  women — Louise, 
queen-mother  of  France,  and  Margaret,  the  singu- 
larly able  and  astute  governante  of  the  Netlier- 
lands.§ 

*  Kauke,  Motley.  f  Eanke,  id  antea.  \  IbiJ. 

§  Dumont,  Corps  Dip.,  torn.  4,  p.  2,  pa.  42.  Margaret  was 
the  emperor's  aunt.  She  had  been  twice  married  —to  Charles  VIII. 
of  France,  who  had  broken  from  the  nuptial  contract  before  its 
consummation  ;  and  to  the  Infant  of  Spain,  who  died  immediately 
after  the  -union.  "While  on  a  voyage  to  Spain,  to  wed  the  heir  ap- 
parent of  thai)  kingdom,  the  vessel  in  which  she  had  sailed  was 


THE  NEW  EEGIME.  123 

But  Charles  V.  made  a  bad  use  of  the  pacifica- 
tion, for  he  employed  the  interval  of  leisure  in  re- 
newing edicts  against  reform,  and  in  sharpening 
the  punishment  and  narrowing  the  tests  of  heresy.* 
He  was  a  physician  of  the  heroic  school,  and  blood- 
letting was  his  panacea.  Or,  if  you  will  have 
another  figure,  he  was  a  schoolman  of  the  mediaeval 
pattern,  and  the  scafi'old  was  his  favorite  syllogism. 

Worst  of  all,  while  the  Eeformation  was  thus 
excommunicated,  and  imperilled,  and  hacked  from 
without,  internal  dissension  commenced  to  tear  its 
vitals,  and  it  lost  the  fine  moderation  and  the  dig- 
nified unity  which  had  characterized  its  inaugura- 
tion. The  good  cause  began  to  split  into  sects — a 
dangerous  tendency  in  the  face  of  the  common 
enemy  in  hostile  array,  and  moving  to  the  storm  of 
the  camp.  At  such  a  crisis,  division  looked  like 
suicide.  "  This  is  the  true  path,"  said  Luther. 
"Nay,  hither  it  runs,"  cried  Zwingle.  "Wrong," 
affirmed  Menno  Simon,  the  able  and  famous  Neth- 
erland   teacher   who   organized  the  Mennonites  ;t 

tempest-tossed,  and  all  hope  was  given  up  ;  whereupon  the  cour- 
ageous princess  wi"ote  her  own  epitaph,  as  follows  : 

"  Here  gentle  Margaret  sleeps  beneath  the  tide, 
Who  twice  was  wedded,  yet  a  maiden  died." 

She  was  not  shipwrecked  after  all.     See  Davies,  vol.  1.  p.  385. 

*  Brandt,  vol.  1,  book  2,  passim. 

f  "The  venerable  Menno  Simon  was  born  at  Witmorsam  in 
Friesland,  in  1496.  His  education  was  such  as  was  generally 
adopted  in  that  age  with  persons  designed  for  the  priesthood.  He 
entered  the  church  in  the  character  of  a  priest  in  1524,  and  had 
then  no  acquaintance  with  the  Bible,  nor  would  he  touch  it,  lest 
he  should  be  sodnoed  by  its  doctrines.     At  the  end  of  three  j^ears, 


124  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

"wrong ;  't  is  as  clear  as  day  that  I  am  on  the  only 
road."  All  good  men,  and  true  ;  but  at  that  criti- 
cal moment,  when  the  safety  of  the  cause  they  loved 
dictated  union  against  the  foe  of  each,  somewhat 
too  heatedly  wedded,  to  subordinate  phases  of  the 
grand  movement  for  reform.  The  gospel  phalanx 
was  confused  and  embarrassed.  The  soldiers  of 
the  cross  took  sides.  Some  said,  "  I  am  of  Paul ;" 
some,  "  I  am  of  Apollos ;"  others,  "  I  am  of  Ce- 
phas," Did  they  forget  those  wise  words  of  the 
apostle  to  the  Gentiles :  "  Is  Christ  divided  ?  was 
Paul  crucified  for  you  ?  or  were  ye  baptized  in  the 
name  of  Paul  ?"* 

But  a  blacker  and  still  more  portentous  cloud 
dimmed  the  horizon.  The  Reformation  was  being 
compromised  by  the  excesses  of  an  insane  gang 
robed  in  its  colors  and  mouthing  its  watchwords. 
A  horde  of  apocalyptic  visionaries,  in  motion 
throughout  Europe,  were  especially  violent  in  the 
Netherlands.  What  have  been  called  the  "  ana- 
baptisticalt  atrocities"  commenced.     "A  handful 

lie  began  to  doubt  the  dogma  of  transubstantiation  ;  but  attributed 
the  doubt  to  Satan.  Dissipation  could  not  put  the  cries  of  con- 
science to  sleep,  and  he  was  won  to  search  the  Scriptures  ;  and 
this,  with  the  aid  of  Luther's  writings,  convinced  him  of  the  error 
of  popery."  In  1536,  he  became  a  gospel  preacher.  The  plaji  of 
doctrine  and  practice,  which  he  threw  into  the  form  of  catechisms, 
did  for  the  Low  Country  Baptists  what  Calvin's  ' '  Christian  Insti- 
tutes "  did  for  nascent  Protestantism  at  large.  See  Orchard,  For- 
eign Baptists,  p.  365,  et  seq.     Also,  Mosheim,  vol.  3,  p.  329. 

'-'  1  Cor.  1  :  13. 

t  "It  is  but  justice  to  observe,  that  the  Baptists  of  Holland, 
England,  and  the  United  States  are  essentially  distinct  from  the 
seditious  and  fanatical  individuals  who  were  called  Anabaptists  at 


THE  NEW  EEGIME.  125 

of  madmen,"  says  Moslieim,  "who  had  got  into 
their  heads  the  absurd  notion  of  a  new  spiritual 
kingdom,  soon  to  be  visibly  established  in  an  ex- 
traordinary manner,  formed  themselves  into  a  soci- 
ety under  the  guidance  of  a  few  illiterate  leaders 
chosen  out  of  the  jDopulace.  And  they  persuaded, 
not  only  the  ignorant  multitude,  but  even  several 
among  the  learned,  that  the  city  of  Munster  was  to 
be  the  seat  of  this  new  Jerusalem,  whose  ghostly 
dominion  was  to  be  propagated  thence  to  all  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  The  ringleaders  of  this  furious 
tribe  were  John  Matthison,  a  baker  of  Haarlem,  John 
Brockhold,  a  tailor  of  Leyden,  one  Gerhard,  with 
some  others,  whom  the  blind  rage  of  enthusiasm,  or 
the  still  more  culpable  principles  of  sedition,  had 
embarked  in  this  extravagant  and  desperate  cause. 
The  band  made  themselves  masters  of  Munster, 
deposed  the  magistrates,  and  committed  every  crime 
which  perversity  could  suggest,  every  folly  which  an 
infernal  imagination  could  devise.  Brockhold  pro- 
claimed himself  King  of  Zion,  and  substantiated  his 
title  by  running  naked  through  the  streets  and  mar- 
rying eleven  wives  at  one  time.  But  his  reign  was 
transitory  and  his  end  was  awful ;  for  Munster  was 

the  Eeformation.  They  do  not  consider  the  word  applicable  to 
their  sect."     D'Aubigne,  Pref.  to  Hist,  of  Eef.,  p.  10. 

' '  The  true  origin  of  that  sect  which  acquired  the  name  of  Ana- 
baptists, by  their  administering  the  rite  of  baptism  even  to  those 
who  came  over  to  their  communion,  and  (Jerived  that  of  Menuo- 
nites  from  that  famous  man,  to  whom  they  owe  the  greatest  part 
of  their  i)rcsent  felicity,  is  hid  in  the  remote  depths  of  antiquity, 
and  is  consequently  extremely  difficult  to  be  ascertained."  Mos- 
heim,  vol.  3,  pp.  318,  319.     Ed.  of  182G. 


126  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

retaken  in  1636,  the  New  Jerusalem  of  tlie  fanatics 
was  destroyed,  and  the  mock  monarch,  chained  for 
a  time  in  an  iron  cage,  was-  finally  put  to  a  painful 
and  ignominious  death,"* 

This  did  not  stay  the  plague.  Scenes  of  tumult, 
license,  blood,  were  every  where  exhibited.  On 
one  bitter  winter  night  at  Amsterdam,  in  1535,  the 
snug  burghers  were  roused  as  the  clock  chimed 
twelve,  by  a  hideous  outcry  in  the  street.  Quit- 
ting their  cosy  couches,  they  ran  shivering  to  their 
windows,  and  lo,  they  saw  seven  naked  men  and 
five  nude  women  raving  and  bawling  as  they  hur- 
ried over  the  cold  pavement,  "  Woe,Avoe,woe  to  Bab- 
ylon." WheD,  after  being  seized  and  brought  before 
the  magistrates,  clothes  Avere  proffered  them,  they 
refused  them  stoutly,  crying,  "  We  are  the  naked 
truth."t  And  when  marshalled  for  execution  they 
sang  and  danced  upon  the  scaffold.]: 

Eomanists  have  often  pointed  to  these,  and  to 
kindred  wild  outbreaks  as  the  logical  result  of 
schism ;  and  nonplussed  Protestants  have  some- 
times relieved  themselves  of  the  odium  by  saying, 
" '  Thou  canst  not  say  I  did  it,'  for  these  madmen 
did  not  belong  to  my  sect."  But  no  sect  is  to  be 
judged  by  its  exceptions;  none  is  responsible  for  the 
acts  of  fanatics  whom  it  disowns.  Venner  called 
himself  a  Puritan ;  were  the  Puritans  Fifth  Mon- 
archy men  and  seditious  because  he  was  ?  In  Ger- 
many every  audacious  varlet  who  broke  into  churches 
and  cloisters  and  plundered  altars,  called  himself  a 

o  Mosheim,  vol.  3,  p.  328,  et  seq.  f  Ibid. ,  note.  |  Ibid. 


THE  NEW  REGIME.  127 

Lutlieran ;  were  the  Lutherans  a  horde  of  pilferers 
because  one  robber  stole  and  stabbed  under  that 
name  ? 

Perhaps  you  will  say,  Why,  then,  charge  fraud, 
and  ambition,  and  irreligion  upon  Rome  because 
Hildebrand,  and  Innocent,  and  Loyola  were  church- 
men ?  For  this  reason  :  these  infamous  churchmen 
w^ere  not  the  exceptions,  they  were  the  rule  of  the 
papacy — the  type-men  and  the  models  of  the  holy 
see  for  ages ;  the  logical,  consumma,te  fruit  of  that 
ecclesiasticism,  never  disowned,  never  even  depre- 
cated. When  the  Baptists  canonize  the  Munster 
madmen,  when  the  Puritans  organize  a  propaganda 
under  the  name  of  St.  Yenner — then,  and  fiot  till 
then,  can  they  be  asked  to  adopt  the  enfants  perdus 
of  the  past,  and  defend  their  atrocities  with  com- 
placent infamy.  Many  Protestants  have  been  fanat- 
ics, and  some  have  been  intolerant  and  bloodthirsty ; 
but  on  the  shield  of  such  warriors  is  the  bar-sinister 
which  marks  them  as  the  bastards  of  reform.  Nei- 
ther Protestantism  as  a  whole,  nor  Protestantism 
in  its  sects,  is  to  be  impeached  for  their  offences — 
offences  alien  to  the  spirit  and  to  the  letter  of  the 
faith. 

Emeutes  like  that  at  Munster  were  sure  to  mark 
the  Reformation.  Such  outbreaks  are  the  inevi- 
table concomitants  of  revolution.  Litense  social, 
moral,  intellectual  agitation  is  certain  to  fanaticize 
weak  minds  "whose  zeal  is  without  knowledge;" 
and  demagogues  and  profligates  will  always  saddle 
fanaticism  and  ride  it  booted  and  spurred  to  the 


128  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

goal  of  their  ambition.  Wliat  tlieii,  shall  there  be 
no  reform  ?  ileform  must  be  ;  and  the  evil  which 
accompanies  it  is  to  be  charged,  not  to  progress,  but 
back  upon  the  opposition  which  seeks  to  conserve 
the  ignorance  and  the  wrong  of  whose  embrace 
fanaticism  is  begotten. 

But  this  aside.  These  fanatical  antics  were  un- 
fortunate for  tlie  Reformation,  for  they  armed  the 
emperor  with  a  pretext  for  fresh  severities;  stimu- 
lated him  to  redoubled  exertions  to  extirpate  a 
creed  which  policy  and  superstition  united  in  his 
mind  to  condemn;  and  furnished  him  with  a  spe- 
cious plea  against  the  new  doctiines  on  the  ground 
of  decency  and  outraged  nature. 

"In  my  opinion,"  wrote  Mary,  queen-dowager 
of  Hungary,  who  had  succeeded  Margaret  in  the 
government  of  the  Netherlands,  to  her  brother  the 
emperor,  "  In  my  opinion  all  heretics,  whether 
repentant  or  not,  should  be  persecuted  with  such 
severity  as  that  error  might  at  once  be  extinguished, 
care  only  being  taken  that  the  provinces  be  not 
wholly  depopulated."*  In  this  opinion  Charles  so 
fully  concurred  that  he  promised  to  introduce  the 
Spanish  Inquisition  into  the  Netherlands.'!- 

This  bare  threat  paralyzed  the  nation.  Antwerp 
was  shocked,  shut  its  shops,  left  its  ships  to  rot, 
hushed  the  hum  of  its  market-place,  hid  its  gold, 
and  dropped  the  prices  and  rents  of  its  houses  be- 
low zero ;  while  the  chief  foreign  merchants  pre- 
pared to  quit  the  ruined  metro j)olis.:|:     At  once  the 

^  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  80.  f  Schiller,  p.  383.  J  Ibitl. 


THE  NEW  KEGIME.  129 

shrewd  emperor  abandoned  this  resolution  in  form, 
but  he  kept  the  fact,  and  estabUshed  the  tribunal  by 
hiding  the  frightful  name  of  inquisitor  under  the 
milder  title  of  Spiritual  Judge.*  "  Then,"  says 
Schiller,  "  this  abhorrent  court  proceeded  to  rage 
with  the  inhuman  despotism  which  has  ever  been 
peculiar  to  it.  And  we  may  get  an  idea  of  its  suc- 
cess in  slaughter  by  the  fact  that  during  the  reign 
of  Charles  V.  fifty  thousand  persons  iDerished  by 
the  hand  of  the  executioner  for  the  sole  crime  of 
imputed  lieresy."t 

In  the  midst  of  these  orgies,  the  wailing,  bleed- 
ing Netherlands  learned  that  Charles  Y.  had  deter- 
mined to  abdicate  —  learned  and  marvelled  with 
mankind. 

■--  Schiller,  p.  383.  t  Ibid.,  p.  381. 


fi* 


130  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

CHAPTER    VII. 

EXEUNT. 

On  the  morning  of  the  25th  of  October,  1555, 
there  was  an  nnusual  stir  in  the  good  old  town  of 
Brussels.  It  was  not  the  bustle  of  traffic,  for  trade 
was  at  a  stand-still,  and  the  only  marketable  com- 
modity was  talk.  The  city  had  emptied  itself  into 
the  streets.  Thousands  of  promenaders,  brave  in 
their  gala  garb,  blocked  up  the  thoroughfares,  and 
broke  into  eager,  excited  groups ;  here  a  dozen 
ranged  about  a  shop-door,  yonder  a  score  under 
the  windows  of  a  mansion.  The  gay  capital  was 
draped  for  a  festa.  Flags  and  quaint  devices,  rare 
flowers  and  costly  tapestries  were  lavishly  displayed 
in  each  of  the  irregular,  picturesque  streets  through 
which  the  town  climbed,  in  the  form  of  an  amphi- 
theatre, from  the  banks  of  the  little  river  Senne  up 
the  steep  hillside  to  the  border  of  the  forest  of 
Soigniers,  ending  abruptly  at  its  gates. 

Brussels,  unlike  its  lowland  sisters,  did  •not 
spring  from  the  ocean  mud;  it  nestled  in  the  lap  of 
a  bluff,  wrapping  around  it  "  a  wide  expanse  of  liv- 
ing verdure,  cultivated  gardens,  shady  groves,  fertile 
cornfields,"  flowing  like  a  mantle.  "  In  the  heart 
of  the  place  rose  the  audacious  and  exquisitely  em- 
broidered tower  of  the  Stadt-house,  three  hundred 
and  sixty-six  feet  high,  a  miracle  of  needlework  in 
stone,  rivalling  in  its  intricate  carving  the  cobweb 


EXEUNT.  1*51 

tracery  of  that  lace  which  for  centuries  has  been 
synonymous  with  the  city,  and  rearing  itself  above 
a  fagade  of  profusely  decorated  and  brocaded  archi- 
tecture. The  crest  of  the  elevation  was  crowned  by 
the  towers  of  the  old  ducal  palace  of  Brabant,  with 
its  extensive  and  thickly  wooded  park  on  the  left, 
and  by  the  stately  mansions  of  the  Flemish  gran- 
dees, of  Orange,  of  Egmont,  of  Aremberg  on  the 
right.  Just  at  hand  lay  the  forest,  dotted  with 
monasteries  and  convents,  swarming  with  every 
kind  of  game,  whither  the  citizens  made  their  sum- 
mer pilgrimages,  and  where  the  nobles  chased  the 
wild  boar  and  the  stag."* 

Such  was  Brussels,  and  such  was  now  the  scene 
within  its  walls.  Why  met  the  burghers  ?  and  why 
stirred  the  city?  It  was  the  day  appointed  by 
Charles  Y.  for  his  abdication  and  for  the  corona- 
tion of  his  sont — an  eventful  day  for  Brussels,  for 
the  Netherlands,  for  Christendom ;  and  the  loyal 
town  had  draped  itself  and  proclaimed  a  holiday 
that  it  might  fitly  say  good-by  to  Ctesar,  and  cry 
welcome  to  King  Philip. 

The  drama  was  enacted  in  the  grand  hall  of  the 
ducal  palace.  Kings  were  the  actors ;  seven  crowned 
heads,  the  foreign  ambassadors,  the  knights  of  the 
Golden  Fleece,  the  Netherland  nobles,  the  Low  Coun- 
tries,present  b}^  delegates — these  were  the  audience.^ 
Charles  was  fond  of  ceremonj',  and  he  knew  its 

«  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  'JG. 

f  Vim  Meteren,  Hist,  der  NederLincTen,  vol.  1,  p.  IG.    Badavaro, 
Eelazioms  MS.  J:  Ibid. 


132  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

effect;  and,  determined  that  tliis  last  public  act 
should  be  a  fit  close  to  his  stormy  career,  he  lav- 
ished his  gold  and  his  skill  to  make  it  so.  , 

He  succeeded ;  Christendom  looked  on  with  open 
mouth,  and  the  emperor  not  only  sent  his  immediate 
auditors  home  weeping — stranger  still,  he  wept  him- 
self.* Could  men  have  foreseen  the  future,  there 
had  been  greater  cause  for  tears ;  facts  would  have 
been  more  pathetic  than  leave-taking  Csesar. 

Two  sentences  will  summarize  the  imperial  ad- 
dress :  "  In  a  qiiarter  of  a  century  of  successful  war 
I  have  heaped  up  a  mighty  dominion,  which  is 
now  menaced  by  religious  heresy  and  by  political 
assault — so  fiercely  threatened,  that  to  defend  its 
integrity  youthful  vigor  must  enter  the  arena.  At 
fifty -five  I  am  an  old  man,  with  shattered  health ; 
but  here  is  my  son,  I  seat  him  on  my  throne  as  the 
defender  of  the  faith,  as  the  ruler  of  my  realm. "t 

This  was  the  spirit  of  the  abdication,  and  it  was 
the  emperor's  solution  of  the  riddle.  What  says 
history?  History  acquiesces  in  this  dictum,  but 
finds  additional  motives.  Charles  was  the  greatest 
glutton  of  his  day,|  and  after  forty  years  of  unex- 
ampled abuse,  his  long-patient  physique  revolted. 
Lame  with  gout,  half  choked  with  asthma,  he  was 
also  a  confirmed  dyspeptic,  and  physiologists  can 
tell  what  whims  a  disordered  stomach  puts  into  the 

*  Poutus  Heutcrus,  U,  pp.  33G-339. 

f  See  the  address  in  extenso  in  Gacliard,  Anal.  Belg.,  pp.  81- 
102.    It  is  also  given  in  Pont.  Heut.  14,  p.  338,  et  seq. 
X  Godelaerus,  Motley,  and  others. 


EXEUNT.  183 

heads  of  men.  Depression  caused  by  dyspepsia — 
this  cropped  out  iu  abdication.  Originally  of  an 
athletic,  well-proportioned  frame,  though  always  of 
an  ugly  countenance,"  the  emperor  w^as  now  a  sad 
wreck.  "  When  physicians  questioned  his  lower 
limbs,  Death-in-life  answered,  '  I  am  here ;'  when 
their  eyes,  rising  attentively  by  way  of  his  hands 
and  arms,  questioned  upward  to  the  muscles  round 
the  protruding  Burgundian  jaw,  Death-in-life  an- 
swered, 'I  am  coming.'  "  Charles  was  keen  enough 
not  to  sit  still  and  rot  into  the  grave,  sceptre  in  hand ; 
by  a  splendid  affectation  of  unselfishness,  he  with- 
drew decorously  from  public  view ;  withdrew  because 
he  willed  to  do  so,  not  because  he  was  compelled — 
and  got  the  credit  of  unprecedented  self-abnegation. 
But  racking  disease  was  not  the  only  ingredient 
in  the  bitter  cup  of  the  emperor's  last  years.  Pohti- 
cal  misfortune  began  to  overtake  him.  The  con- 
queror at  Pavia  had,  on  two  recent  occasions,  been 
humiliated,  outwitted,  defeated.  Young  Maurice  of 
Saxony,  who  had  once  sat  at  the  feet  of  this  Gama- 
liel to  verse  himself  in  war  and  diplomacy,  left  his 
master  when  he  had  learned  the  lesson,  and,  putting 
himself  at  the  head  of  menaced  German  Protestant- 
ism, dashed  down  upon  the  emperor  while  he  was 
seated  in  solemn  conclave  at  Innspruck  forging 
thunderbolts  with  which  to  smite  reform ;  drove  him 
to  hasty  and  ignominious  flight  in  a  peasant's  wag- 
on ;  defeated  his  troops  a  little  later  at  Fiissen ; 
forced  the  sick  and  half-stunned  monarch  to  an- 
X  Van  Meteren,  Gachard. 


134  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

otlier  headlong  midniglit  flight  through  the  difficult 
Alpine  gorges  in  an  awful  storm ;  permitted  his 
escape  only  because  "for  such  a  bird  he  had  no 
convenient  cage  ;"  and,  finally,  anchored  the  Kefor- 
mation  in  Germany  by  the  advantageous  treaty  of 
Passau — a  peace  which  he  compelled  the  staggered 
emperor  to  sign.* 

So,  too,  when  Charles  had  attempted  to  retake 
the  French  town  of  Metz ;  of  the  hundred  thou- 
sand men  whom  he  brought  to  the  siege,  he  returned 
balked  and  bloody  with  a  loss  of  forty  thousandf — 
returned  to  hear  that  the  Protestant  princes,  that 
the  Turkish  sultan,  that  the  Holy  Father  had 
formed  a  "triple  alliance"  against  his  tottering 
throne.:|:  "  For  some  days,"  says  Strada,  "  he 
kept  his  chamber,  and  ever  after  his  disease  grew 
sharper.  Nay,  it  was  commonly  believed  that  Cae- 
sar's fortune,  glutted  and  grown  coy,  began  to  retire, 
and  that  the  happy  genius  of  this  long-unconquered 
emperor  was  fled  to  Henry  the  French  king ;  Caesar 
himself,  not  able  to  dissemble  it,  being  heard  to 
say,  'It  seems  fortune  is  the  young  man's  mistress,' 
And  therefore  for  his  device  of  Hercules'  pillar,  and 
the  motto  ijIus  ultra — 'more  beyond' — there  was 
painted  on  his  palace  walls  a  crab,  with  the  words 
plus  citra — 'more  on  this  side' — a  jeer  agreeable  to 
the  times.  '  The  emperor,'  said  some,  '  does  like  a 
wary  gambler  at  dice,  who,  having  drawn  a  great 
sum  of  money  in  many  hours'  play,  holds  his  hand, 
and  suffers  not  himself  to  be  stripped  of  all  his 
*  Eobeitsou,  vol.  2.         f  Ibid.,  Strada,         X  Ibid.,  Motley. 


EXEUNT.  135 

victorious  Leap  at  one  throw.'  "*  On  the  other 
hand,  it  has  been  contended  that  the  abdication 
came  from  no  soreness  of  defeat,  but  was  the  con- 
summation of  a  purpose  avowed  many  years  before 
this  lesson  of  the  mutabiHty  of  success,  to  Francis 
Borgia,  when  Charles  confessed  that  "he  was  minded 
to  divest  himself  of  all  the  cares  and  baggage  of  this 
world,"  and  seek  peace  in  quietude ;  recalling  the 
words  of  an  old  cavalry  officer  who  had  petitioned 
for  a  discharge  from  service,  giving  this  reason  :  "I 
wish  to  put  a  space  of  religious  contemplation 
betwixt  my  life  and  my  tomb."t 

However  all  this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  from 
one  motive  or  another  Charles  did  resign  his  digni- 
ties and  retire,  "  like  a  nobody,"  to  a  private  house 
in  Brussels.  His  tarry  was  not  long.  One  night  a 
comet  was  discerned  flaming  athwart  the  sky,  pre- 
saging— as  was  at  that  time  thought — disaster,  and 
the  death  of  princes.  Me  meet  fata  vocant — "  my  fates 
call  for  me,":l:  he  said ;  and  at  once  embarking,  the 
self-discrowned  emperor  sailed  for  Spain,  and  buried 
himself  in  the  monastery  of  St.  Juste,§  where  he  died 
in  1558,11  after  a  residence  embittered  by  the  mem- 
ory of  the  world  he  had  surrendered ;  after  hours 
wasted  in  reading  despatches,  in  whining  over 
dishes,  in  making  epigrams  on  his  cook's  inabihty 
to  tickle  his  tanned  palate. "^F 

So  passed  the  last  years  of  Charles  V. — what 

*  Stvada,  pp.  8,  9.  f  Ibid.  J  Godelajrus,  p.  615. 

§  llobcrtsou.  II  Sept.  21st. 

IT  Stirling,  Cloister  Life  of  Charles  V. 


136  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

was  lie  at  his  best?  Au  able  soldier,  a  shrewd, 
unscrupulous  politician,  a  cool,  determined  despot. 
He  had  no  convictions — only  a  purpose.  He  had 
no  heart — only  a  muscle  to  circulate  his  blood.  His 
most  familiar  weapons  were  trickery  and  brute  force. 
Charles  qui  tricJie — such  was  the  sobriquet  which  his 
frauds  had  won  him.* 

To  aggrandize  his  house,  this  was  his  object ; 
and  to  this  he  bent  every  thing,  as  one  might  twist 
a  nose  of  wax.  He  persecuted  from  policy,  not 
bigotry,  and  stabbed  reform  because  he  was  keen 
enough  to  see  that  its  talk  of  religious  rights  neces- 
sitated civil  rights — meant  political  as  Avell  as  moral 
heresy.  He  plucked  the  bud,  that  he  might  kill  the 
flower.  The  glass  of  his  history  reflects  no  fanatic ; 
every  action  of  his  life  turned  on  the  well-oiled 
hinge  of  imagined  policy.  Policy  made  him  listen 
to  Luther  at  Worms,  and  dismiss  him  in  peace. 
Policy  persuaded  him  to  proclaim  TItc  Interim,  that 
bastard  juggle  of  a  creed.  Policy  pushed  him  to 
permit  his  German  troops  to  listen  to  the  exhorta- 
tions of  their  own  chaplains,  accompanjiug  them 
from  city  to  city.  Policy  led  him  at  the  same  time 
to  bury  alive  in  the  Low  Countries  any  woman  who 
should  read  her  Bible.  Policy  urged  him  to  sign 
the  treaty  of  Passau,  the  Papal  couj)  de  (jra?e  in 
Germany.  Policy  led  him,  first  since  Attila,  to  sack 
the  "  Eternal  City."  Policy  decided  him  to  fling  an 
ofi'ending  pontiff  into  the  dungeons  of  the  castle  of 
St.  Angelo. 

''^  Brautome,  Art.  Charles  Quint. 


EXEUNT.  137 

Yet  spite  of  his  finesse,  spite  of  the  connivance 
with  which  he  met  connivance,  spite  of  his  tri- 
umphs, and  his  titles,  and  his  power,  greatest  since 
Charlemagne,  his  career  was  a  magnificent  failure, 
a  gilded  cheat.  He  lived  to  see  the  Keformation 
which  he  had  essayed  to  crush,  triumj)liant  in  Eng- 
land, conqueror  in  Germany,  and  spreading  in  the 
Netherlands — men  reading  the  interdicted  evange- 
lists in  the  lurid  light  of  the  very  fire  kindled  to 
consume  them. 

So  with  the  empire  which  he  had  massed.  Al- 
ready it  was  crumbling.  The  imperial  crown  went 
to  his  brother  Ferdinand,  the  Eoman  throne  passed 
also  into  his  tenacious  possession,*  In  what  re- 
mained there  was  no  cohesion — a  mere  concferies  of 
victim  states  held  under  the  lock  and  key  of  despo- 
tism, tending  inevitabl}^  to  dismemberment :  like  the 
rich  mud  of  our  Mississippi,  shifting  with  every 
flood  from  one  side  to  the  other  of  the  channel.t 
Yast  and  rich  as  was  his  realm,  Philip's  chief  inher- 
itance was  the  revolution. 

*  Kobertson. 

t  Wenflell  Phillips,  Letters  and  Speeches,  p.  350. 


138  THE  DUTCH  KEFORMATION. 

CHAPTEK  VIII. 

AFFINITIES. 

Under  Charles  V.,  the  Netherkinds  were  decima- 
ted by  ambition ;  under  Philip  II.  they  were  deci- 
mated by  fanaticism.  Standing  on  the  threshold  of 
his  reign,  let  us  pause  a  moment  to  analyze  this 
king — for  it  is  a  safe  rule  of  the  ancients,  "  If  you 
would  comprehend  events,  understand  men." 

Philip  II.  was  the  Sphinx  of  his  own  day;  he  is 
the  spelled  riddle  of  our  time.  The  iron  mask 
which,  unlike  the  famous  Bastile  prisoner,  he  wore 
from  choice,  not  necessity,  has  been  torn  off  by  the 
hand  of  time,  and  we  may  read  his  features — see 
him  as  a  man  of  starch  and  buckram.  It  was  his 
constant  effort  to  divorce  himself  from  humanity. 
If  he  ever  had  a  heart,  he  murdered  it  in  boyhood, 
and  he  was  more  stoical  than  the  stoics. 

This  icy  temper — which  caused  his  courtiers  to 
shiver  when  they  approached  him,  which  made  them 
hear  a  crash  when  he  smiled — was  exactly  typical 
of  his  mind.  Narrow,  incapable  of  generalization, 
tied  down  to  minutke,  sluggish,  chained  in  forms, 
enamored  of  the  letter  of  the  law  which  kills,  he  yet 
had  a  remarkable  memory,  and  when  he  once  em- 
braced a  purpose,  he  moved  to  execution  with 
tedious  but  pitiless  certainty. 

He  was  singularly  patient.    "  Time  and  I,"  such 


AFFINITIES.  139 

was  bis  boast,  "  are  a  match  for  any  two."*  But  it 
has  been  well  said  that  time  was  not  always  his 
ally — sometimes  refused  to  hunt  in  couple  ;  for  time 
succors  virtue  and  helps  genius,  tenders  to  the  one 
golden  oj^portunities,  which  must  be  snatched  with 
ready  gTasp,  and  renders  to  the  other  tardy  justice. 
Philip's  patience  often  balked  him ;  for  while  he 
advanced  with  measured,  methodical  step,  success 
was  clutched  by  a  more  rapid  hand.  While  the  man 
of  system  deliberated  and  shaped  his  plan,  the  man 
of  action,  inspired  by  the  moment,  extemporized  a 
triumph.  While  Philip  was  writing  a  despatch,  his 
father  Avould  have  conquered  a  kingdom. 

Gloomy,  sour,  conceited,  ascetic,  Philip  had  not 
the  faculty,  and  he  lacked  the  desire  to  please.  He 
would  not  compromise  his  pride  by  affecting  to  be 
debonair.  He  studied  solitude,  stood  apart  from 
choice.  Surrounding  himself  with  mystery  and  ter- 
ror, he  aped  deity. 

In  this  he  was  unlike  Charles  V.  "  When  the 
emperor  returned  to  his  palace  escorted,  as  he  usu- 
ally was,  by  a  train  of  nobles  and  princes  of  the 
empire,"  observes  Prescott,  painting  him  on  one 
occasion  at  Augsburg,  "  he  courteously  took  each 
of  them  by  the  hand,  and  raised  his  hat  on  parting. 
But  Philip  then,  and  always,  walked  directly  to  his 
apartments,  without  so  much  as  turning  round,  or 
condescending  in  any  Avay  to  notice  the  courtiers 
who  accompanied  him.  In  fact,  it  was  said  of  him, 
that  he  considered  himself  greater  than  his  father, 
*  Gayarre,  Philip  II.  of  Spain,  i>.  59. 


140  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

inasmuch  as  the  son  of  an  emperor  was  greater 
than  the  son  of  a  king."* 

This  sullen  haughtiness  was  his  by  nature,  but 
it  was  increased  by  untoward  circumstances.  He 
was  born  and  educated  in  Spain.  "  Castile,  Ara- 
gon,  Leon,"  Grattan  reminds  us,  "were  in  some 
degree  excluded  from  European  civilization.  A  con- 
test of  seven  centuries  between  the  Mohammedan 
tribes  and  the  descendants  of  the  Visigoths,  cruel, 
like  all  civil  wars,  and,  like  those  of  religion,  not 
merely  a  contest  of  rulers,  but  essentially  a  war  of 
races,  had  given  to  the  manners  and  feelings  of 
the  Spaniard  a  deep  stamp  of  barbarity.  The  fero- 
city of  military  chieftains  had  become  the  basis  of 
government  and  law.  The  Christian  kings  had 
adopted  the  perfidious  and  degrading  etiquette  of 
the  despotic  sultans  whom  they  had  displaced. 
Magnificence  and  tyranny,  power  and  cruelty,  saga- 
city and  dissimulation,  respect  and  fear,  were  insep- 
arably associated  with  government  in  the  minds  of 
such  a  people.  They  could  comprehend  nothing  in 
religion  but  a  God  armed  with  omnipotence  and 
vengeance ;  nothing  in  politics  but  a  king  as  terri- 
ble as  the  deity  he  represented."! 

It  was  in  such  a  school  that  Philip  was  cradled 
and  taught.  His  earliest  lesson  was  the  omnipotence 
and  irresponsibility  of  royalt3^  "  The  vassal  who 
kills  a  man  by  his  sovereign's  order,"  so  wrote  his 
confessor  at  a  later  day,  "  is  free  from  blame,  be- 
cause the  king,  being  master  of  the  lives  of  his  sub- 
o  Prescott,  Hist,  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.      f  Grattan,  p.  79. 


AFFINITIES.  141 

jects,  can  dispose  of  them  as  he  pleases,  either  with 
or  without  the  formahty  of  law."*  This  was  the 
doctrine  which  the  monarch  was  set  to  learn.  Is  it 
strange  that  the  unquestionable  despot  of  the  south 
should  become  the  usurping  master  of  the  north  ? 

Besides  this,  Philip  was  isolated  by  ignorance. 
Two  out  of  three  of  the  Netherland  burghers  could 
speak  several  languages ;  their  king  was  master  of 
but  one,  and  he  never  became  sufficiently  familiar 
with  the  modern  languages  to  be  able  to  do  more 
than  write  a  little  French  and  Italian  with  painful 
slowness. t  Of  the  Dutch  he  could  not  speak  a  word, 
and  he  was  the  most  prejudiced  of  foreigners  when 
he  essayed  to  govern  the  Low  Countries — domina- 
ted solely  by  a  hatred  of  their  liberties,  which  barred 
him  from  the  absolutism  to  which  he  was  habitua- 
ted ;  and  by  a  contempt  for  the  hearty, '  familiar 
manners  of  the  burgher  populace,  whose  character 
was  so  fatally  antipodal  to  his,  whose  loquacity  was 
so  constant  a  reproach  upon  his  taciturnity,  whose 
somewhat  boisterous  joy  grated  so  harshly  on  his 
cynical  ear,  whose  freedom  was  so  perpetual  a 
menace  to  his  despotism. 

Philip  was  a  manikin,  not  a  man.  He  had  a 
low  instinct  of  cunning,  and  flattered  himself  that 
he  could  read  men.  He  mistook  deceit  for  sagacit}', 
and  esteemed  cruelt}'  to  be  an  imperial  quality.  He 
thought  he  had  an  aptitude  for  business,  and  was 
indefatigable  in  work.  A  passion  for  contemptible* 
details  was  his  most  prominent  intellectual  trait ; 
•  Cited  in  Gayarre,  p.  163,  ei  seq.        f  Grotius,  Motley,  Grattau. 


142  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

and  his  chief  delight  was  to  pen,  despatch,  receive, 
and  scrawl  silly  comments  on  despatches,  in  which 
he  was  a  glutton.*  "He  hated  to  converse;  but  he 
could  write  a  letter  eighteen  pages  long,  when  his 
correspondent  was  in  the  next  room,  and  when  the 
subject  was,  perhaps,  one  which  a  man  of  talent 
could  have  settled  with  six  words  of  his  tongue. 
The  world,  in  his  opinion,  was  to  be  moved  upon 
protocols  and  apostiUcs.  Events  throughout  his 
dominions  had  no  right  to  be  born  without  a  pre- 
paratory course  of  his  obstetrical  pedantry ;  and  he 
could  never  learn  that  the  earth  would  not  rest  on 
its  axis  while  he  wrote  out  a  programme  of  the  way 
in  which  it  was  to  turn."t 

He  was  grossly  licentious,  as  vv^ell  as  cruel  and 
unscrupulous,  yet  he  was  as  constant  and  regular  at 
mass,  at" sermons,  at  vespers,  as  a  monk.:]:  He  prob- 
ably esteemed  himself  a  model  Christian,  for  it  is 
Schiller  who  informs  us  that  "  egotism  and  fanati- 
cism were  the  title-page  and  contents  of  his  life."§ 

Philip  was  the  contented  jackal  of  Rome.  "  My 
mission,"  said  he,  "  is  the  suppression  of  heres3\"|| 
The  man  was  worthy  of  the  mission,  and  the  mis- 
sion was  worthy  of  the  man.  In  the  prosecution  of 
this  atrocious  purpose,  he  embarked  his  diminutive 
soul,  stuck  at  no  oaths,  balked  at  no  barrier,  scru- 
pled at  no  crimes ;  for'had  he  not  read  and  pondered 
that  papal  canon  which  sanctifies  the  means  if  the 

*  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  142.     Watson,  Life  of  Thilip  II. 

t  Ibid.  X  Ibid.,  p.  145.     Gayarre.  §  Schiller,  p.  .".92. 

II  Gayarre,  p.  30.     Grattan,  Vau  Meteren,  etc. 


AFFINITIES.  14B 

end  be  good?  "Keep  no  faith  with  heretics" — it 
was  the  essence  of  his  ethics ;  there  was  merit  in 
the  breach,  sin  in  the  observance. 

Constitutionally  and  systematically  Philip  was 
the  champion  of  immobility.  Movement  disturbed 
him.  Progress  of  any  kind  smelt  of  heresy  in  his  nos- 
trils, "  No  innovation,"  cried  he,  when  reform  was 
broached.  "We  cannot  but  fancy,"  observes  his 
biographer,  "  that  if  Philip  had  been  gifted  with 
omnipotence,  he  would  have  delighted  in  creating  a 
world  without  motion.  Creeping  things  might  per- 
haps have  been  tolerated,  but  the  wind  would  cer- 
tainly have  been  excluded  ;  and  he  would  have  said 
to  the  ocean,  '  Peace,  be  still.'  "* 

Philip's  person  corresponded  with  his  intellect — 
like  that  was  narrow,  angular,  meagre,  and  awry. 
He  had  the  air  of  an  habitual  invalid ;  and  his 
timid,  shrinking  frame  was  surmounted  by  a  small 
head  and  a  pinched  face,  weighed  down  by  the 
heavy,  protruding  Burgundian  jaw.f  In  this  human 
cage  his  tiger  spirit  crouched  and  growled. 

Such  in  temper,  mind,  and  body  was  Philip  II. 
when,  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight,:]:  he  entered  the 
Netherlands  to  succeed  the  wornout  .and  gouty 
emperor.  Other  traits  he  had,  which  time  was  to 
develop,  and  some  which  we  have  sketched  were 
still  in  embryo  ;  but  if  this  was  Philip  in  the  green 
tree,  what  was  to  be  expected  of  him  in  the  dry? 

o  Gayarre,  p.  302. 

t  Pont.  Heut.  14,  p.  346,  et  seq.     Watson,  Life  ofTbilip  II. 

J  He  was  born  in  Maj',  1527. 


144  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

Now  we  may  be  sure  tliat  an  outbreak  will  not 
be  long  in  coming.  Philip  piqued  himself  on  being 
a  foreigner — widened  the  chasm  which  already 
yawned  between  the  Netherlands  and  himself;  dis- 
missed his  father's  Dutch  officers ;  would  be  attend- 
ed by  none  but  Spaniards,  and  brought  in  his  reti- 
nue and  cantoned  on  the  Netherlanders  a  swarm  of 
needy  Castilian  adventurers.* 

The  unnatural  union  into  which  Spain  and  the 
Low  Countries  were  now  forced  was  pregnant  with 
ill.  No  two  people  could  be  more  dissimilar.  Each 
misunderstood  the  other. 

There  had  always  been  ill-blood  between  the 
Spaniard  and  Netherlander;  and  now,  when  the 
burgher  saw  his  old  enemy  quartered  on  his  coun- 
try in  the  guise  of  a  conqueror ;  and  under  a  mon- 
arch who  took  no  pains  to  disguise  his  contempt 
for  the  time-honored  customs  and  parchments  which 
he  so  highly  prized,  the  seeds  of  bitter  discontent 
were  sown  in  his  heart  prior  to  the  commission  of 
any  overt  act.  This  mutual  jealousy  was  sharpened 
by  the  religious  differences  of  the  time.  Spaniard 
and  Bomanist  were  synonymous  words.  Just  as 
synonymous  were  Netherlander  and  Protestant. 
While  the  Spaniard  saw  in  the  Dutchman  a  heretic 
in  religion,  a  Jew  in  trade,  and  a  rebel  in  politics, 
the  Dutchman  saw  in  the  Sj^aniard  a  fanatic  in 
faith,  a  slothful  mendicant  in  business,  and  an  igno- 
rant slave  in  civility.f 

o  Meteren,  Grotius,  Motley,  etc. 

t  Grotii  Annal.  Belg.  Latin.,  1,  4,  5,  et  seq. 


AFFINITIES.  145 

This  feeling  extended  to  all  classes  in  the  Low 
Countries.  Even  the.  nobles  whom  Charles  V.  had 
done  so  much  to  corrupt  and  impoverish,  paused 
between  their  cujis  to  hiccough  curses  upon  Spain ; 
while  all  whose  chief  demand,  like  the  Eoman  sav- 
ages under  the  empire,  was  for  food  and  amuse- 
ment— panem  et  circenscs — echoed  a  deep  amen.  It 
was  imperilled  nationality  rising  to  assert  itself. 

The  manner  of  Philip  and  the  insolent  presence 
of  his  Spanish  satellites  awakened  thought.  A 
strong  republican  reaction  set  in.  Men  began  to 
question  the  jus  divlmim  of  Madrid  as  they  already 
had  that  of  Eome.  The  absurdity  of  an  hereditary 
monarchy  which  might  lapse  into  absolutism  at 
any  moment,  was  almost  as  generally  felt  as  that 
of  the  establishment  w'liich  the  Keformation  had 
exploded,  and  to  which  Fletcher  of  Saltoun  com- 
pares it — an  hereditary  professorship  of  divinity. 

For  the  Reformation  had  created  a  people — 
taught  men  to  think — educated  men  through  re- 
sponsibility.  The  religious  conflict  had  been  let 
down  to  common  comprehension;  it  was  seen  to 
be  no  quarrel  in  the  upper  air  between  angry  and 
loquacious  priests,  each  afraid  to  soil  his  latinity  by 
a  popular  appeal.  And  when  the  reformers  "awoke 
all  antiquity  from  the  sleep  of  the  libraries,"  and 
moved  to  their  work,  not 

' '  to  the  Doriau  mood 
Of  flutes  and  soft  recorders, '.' 

but  with  lips  touched  like  Isaiah's,  they  planted — 
without  intending  to  do  so,  for  their  sole  purpos-^ 


146  THE  DUTCH  REFOKMATION. 

was  religious  reformation  —  they  planted  the  rude 
idea  of  political  democracy,  and  left  it  to  unfold 
through  Christian  martyrdom  and  faith  in  God. 

But  all  this  was  latent — in  the  minds,  not  yet 
in  the  acts  of  the  people.  The  burghers  still 
stood  intrenched  behind  their  parchment  guaran- 
ties, and  fought  inside  of  constitutional  forms. 
Hoping  against  hope,  they  applied  a  rule  to  Philip 
which  Coleridge  has  put  into  an  epigram  :  "  "When 
you  cannot  understand  another's  ignorance,  account 
yourself  ignorant  of  his  understanding."  But  the 
rules  of  construction  have  their  limits,  and  patience, 
5"  entertained  too  long,  becomes  a  vice. 


SCHEMES.  147 

CHAPTER  IX. 

SCHEMES. 

When  Philip  II.  placed-  his  father's  discarded 
crown  upon  his  head,  he  grasped  with  it  the  sceptre 
of  a  limited  monarch ;  for  already  the  prerogative 
of  the  throne  had  gained  a  visible  ascendency  over 
the  republican  spirit.*  Still,  many  of  the  ancient 
franchises  remained  in  nominal  force,  and  these  had 
acqiiired  fresh  importance,  in  the  estimation  of  the 
provinces,  by  the  wholesale  oaths  of  office  which 
the  new  king  had  not  scrupled  to  take. 

Seven  years  before  the  abdication,  Philip  had 
visited  the  Netherlands  at  the  request  of  Charles; 
coming  to  receive  their  oaths  of  future  fealty,  and 
to  swear  in  return  to  support  the  whole  round  of 
privileges  which  hedged  in  the  sturdy  burghers — 
indiscriminate  concessions  which  king  and  emperor 
alike  believed  would  be  an  opiate  certain  to  make 
vigilance  slumber,  and  which,  as  each  knew,  need 
not  shackle  an  unscrupulous  conscience.!  By  these 
oaths  Philip  assented  to  larger  liberties  than  any 
of  his  ancestors  had  yielded  since  Mary  of  Bur- 
gundy signed  the  "Great  Privilege "t. — assented  all 
the  more  readily  because  he  did  not  mean  to  hold 
himself  bound  by  his  amen. 

-'-■  Scliiller,  p.  389.  f  Meteren,  Davies,  Motley. 

t  Chap.  Ill,,  pp.  76,  77. 


148  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

Thus  it  was  tliat  the  wily  monarch  be^au  his 
connection  with  the  Low  Countries,  not  as  emperor, 
not  as  king,  but  as  hereditary  prince.  This  was  the 
theory,  the  fact  had  a  different  face. 

Philip  and  the  burghers  had  hated  each  other 
at  first  sight — one  reason  why  the  citizens  had 
bound  their  prince  with  so  many  and  so  unusual 
green  withes  of  concession.  For,  this  haught}',  sul- 
len, retiring,  impassible  foreigner,  what  confidence 
could  he  inspire  in  the  hearts  of  one  of  the  most 
lively,  frank',  energetic,  and  progressive  of  the  Euro- 
pean races?  Vainly  had  they  striven  to  make  him 
smile  by  the  warmth  of  their  greeting.  Brussels 
exhausted  itself  in  festivities,  Antwerp  outdid  itself 
in  the  magnificence  of  its  celebrations,Ghent  shouted 
itself  hoarse  in  his  honor ;  and  yet  the  icy  phlegm 
of  Philip  remained  unthawed.  The  joyous  roar  of 
the  populace  grated  on  his  ear,  the  frequent  expres- 
sion of  popular  rights  he  esteemed  the  voice  of 
incipient  rebellion,  the  magnificence  of  the  display 
offended  his  jealous  vanity.* 

"  Well,  then,"  said  the  angered  citizen, "  if  we  can- 
not make  this  frigid  senor  smile  at  our  greeting,  we 
will  see  if  we  cannot  make  him  wince  by  our  de- 
mands." The  good  burghers  were  doubly  piqued, 
for  Philip  subscribed  concessions  as  imperturbably 
as  he  received  addresses  of  welcome. 

This  was  in  1548.t  Now,  in  1555,  Philip  was 
again  on  Netherland  soil,  this  time  not  as  heir  but 

*  Wageiifer,  Vavderlanclsche  Historie,  vol.  4,  p.   294,   et   seq. 
Meteren,  1,  f.  13.     Motley,  vol.  1.     Grattaji,.  p.  81.  f  Ibi'l- 


SCHEMES.  149 

as  master.  Both  prince  and  citizens  remembered 
the  former  visit — both  anticipated  trouble.  But 
there  was  quiet  in  the  land,  that  frightful  calm 
which  precedes  a  storm.  Philip  began  to  dissem- 
ble ;  it  was  not  safe  yet  to  throw  off  the  mask.  As 
for  the  Dutch,  they  put  their  fingers  to  the  lips  of 
their  foreboding  suspicions,  and  waited. 

Meantime  the  government  was  settled.  The  old 
governant,  Mary  of  Hungary,  had  resigned  her  office 
on  the  abdication  of  the  emperor,  alleging  that  she 
was  "  too  old  to  recommence  and  learn  a  new 
alphabet"  under  another  reign. ■^'  Philip  reluctantly 
assented  to  her  resignation,!  and,  convening  an 
assembly  of  the  state,  inducted  into  the  governor- 
generalship  of  the  Netherlands  his  cousin  Emanuel 
Philibert,  duke  of  Savoy — a  brilliant  and  astute  ad- 
venturer, who  had  been  spoiled  of  his  estates,  and 
stripped  of  every  thing  but  his  title  and  his  skill  by 
French  usurpation.:]: 

The  court — a  herd  of  Spanish  grandees,  with 
liere  and  there  a  Netherland  noble  for  appearance' 
;iake§ — had  been  organized  prior  to  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  pauper  duke.  At  arbout  the  same  time 
Philip  seated  half  a  dozen  Spaniards  at  his  council- 
boardll — among  the  rest  the  duke  of  Alva,  destined 
later  to  play  an  awful  part  in  the  opening  drama  of 
the  revolution  ;  and  JXny  Gomez,  the  royal  favorite, 

<^  Papiers  d'etat  du  Cardinal  Granville,  vol.  4,  p.  47G. 
J  Gii^hard. 

J  Brantomc  vol.  1.     Badavaro,  MS.,  cited  in  Motley,  vol.  1,  p. 
1.30,  d  seq.  §  Badavaro,  ut  aiilea. 

II  Apolog.  d'Orange,  p.  -17,  el  seq. 


150  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

valet,  councillor,  and  finance  minister,  the  king's 
right  hand,  the  gate  to  his  good-will,  the  power 
behind  the  throne.* 

These  preliminaries  settled,  Philip,  with  the 
mingled  craft  and  caution  of  his  nature,  began  to 
smooth  the  way  towards  the  accomplishment  of  his 
lifework.  It  was  the  nature  of  this  man  to  plot  in 
secret,  to  stab  in  the  dark,  to  act  in  enigmas.  He 
would  have  been  a  midnight  conspirator,  if  he  had 
not  been  a  despot.  He  never  went  straight  towards 
an  object — always  chose  the  crooked  path,  and 
would  naturally  tell  a  lie  unless  he  had  a  dozen  dif- 
ferent and  distinct  reasons  for  speaking  the  truth. 

So  now,  resting  with  one  hand  on  Alva's  shoul- 
der, and  with  the  other  upon  that  of  Buy  Gomez, 
"  the  pillars  of  his  j)0wer,"  as  the  shrewd  Venetian 
envoy,  Suriano,  called  them,t  he  did  not  command, 
he  schemed.  Philip  was  anxious  to  cement  his 
authority  before  he  strained  it.  Yet,  like  his  father, 
he  desired  to  regard  the  Netherlands  as  a  whole, 
and  not  as  a  congeries  of  provinces,  and  he  hated 
the  antique  liberties,  the  obstinate  privileges,  which 
interfered  with  his  kleas  of  symmetry;  and  he,  too, 
like  the  emperor,  looked  about  him  for  some  engine 
which  should  crush  these  irregular,  heterogeneous 
rights  into  the  uniformity  of  despotism. | 

Philip's  first  move  was  adroit.  He  reen acted  his 
father's  merciless  edict  of  1550,  which  made  burning, 

«-•  Brantome,  Art.  Philip  II.     Gayarre.  * 

f  Suriano,  MS.,  cited  in  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  117. 
X  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  155. 


SCHEMES.  151 

hanging,  drowning,  and  burial  alive  the  punishment 
which  awaited  even  a  suspicion  of  heresy  f  and  then, 
skulking  behind  the  emperor's  ghost,  he  cried,  "I  do 
not  innovate,  I  simply  reenact.  These  punishments 
are  a  part  of  the  national  institutions  which  I  find,  do 
not  bring,  here.  They  have  received  Caesar's  sanc- 
tion, and  have  been  sustained  by  past  generations."t 

But  though  the  act  was  subtle,  though  innumer- 
able aj)peals  were  made  to  the  conservative  senti- 
ment, and  to  the  patriotism  of  the  commons ;  though 
they  w^ere  summoned  to  enforce  the  edict  because 
it  had  been  acquiesced  in  by  their  ancestors,  and 
because  Philip  had  made  no  change  in  it,  but  only 
essayed  to  stand  in  the  old  ways  of  the  emperor, 
"of  very  laudable  memory;"  yet,  spite  of  all,  the 
people  growled  ominously.  Antwerj)  refused  to  jjub- 
lish  the  placard  iX  other  cities  echoed  this  veto  of 
the  commercial  metropolis  ;§  and  these  protests 
drove  Philip  to  recede  in  their  case,  though  in 
sections  where  the  placards  had  been  published  it 
was  ordered  to  be  enforced — a  strange  anomaly,  to 
subject  some  towns  to  the  Inquisition  and  to  ex- 
cuse others  ;  yet  advantageous,  because  it  made  the 
resistance  of  Antwerp  and  the  rest  all  the  more 
conspicuous.il 

In  the  meanwhile  the  fire  of  persecution  wanted 
no  human  fuel  to  feed  on.  At  Mons,  in  Hainault, 
two*  men,  suspected  of  heresy  because  they  were 
diligent  in  their  study  of  the  Bible,  were  first  im- 

*  See  Chap.  VI. ,  pp.  12G-128.        f  Motley,  id  antea.    Metereii. 
t  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  110.  §  Ibid.  H  Ibid. 


152  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

prisoned,  and  then,  without  any  very  close  scrutiny 
into  their  notions  of  religion,  condemned  to  be 
beheaded.  One  Adrian  Van  Lappen,  a  citizen  of 
Bruges,  returning  from  a  fair  at  Frankfort,  halted 
for  the  night  at  Aste,  in  Hainault,  and  gave  his 
satchel  to  the  landlady  of  the  inn  :  she  being  curi- 
ous, opened  it  in  his  absence,  and  found  it  to  be 
filled  with  heretical  books.  Some  of  these  she 
showed  to  the  village  priest ;  the  hapless  merchant 
was  at  once  arrested,  and  after  a  brief  space,  burned 
to  death  in  a  slow  fire.* 

These  are  two  instances  out  of  hundreds.  Phihp 
would  have  kindled  similar  fires  throughout  the 
Low  Countries  had  it  not  been  for  the  protest  of 
brave  Antwerp ;  which  he  heeded,  because  he  was 
anxious  to  disarm  suspicion,  and  bj^  securing  a  sub- 
sidy, emancipate  himself  from  the  control  of  the 
popular  deputies.t  He  had  already  demanded  of 
the  assembly  which  met  to  confirm  Emanuel  PhiH- 
bert,  that  a  tax  be  imj)Osed  on  Flanders,  Brabant, 
Holland,  and  the  sister  provinces,  which  should  fill 
his  exchequer  Avithout  the  intervention  of  the  states. 
"  No,"  said  the  provinces ;  but  they  softened  the 
refusal  by  granting  Philip  a  generous  commutation 
in  gold.:!: 

In  the  midst  of  these  intrigues,  when  partially 
balked  in  one  direction  and  partially  successful  in 
another,  Philip  found  himself  suddenly  comi)eHed 
to  suspend  this  congenial  campaign  of  trickery  and 

*  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  108.  i  Meteren,  Wageuacr,  Grattan. 

J  Ibid.    Davies,  vol.  1,  p.  490,  ei  seq. 


SCHEMES.  153 

murder,  in  order  to  defend  himself  against  exterior 
assault :  France  menaced  bim  on  one  side,  the  popo 
thundered  on  the  other.  The  jackal  of  Rome  had 
been  forced  into  the  false  position  of  foeman  to  the 
Holy  See. 

This  was  how  it  happened.  The  emperor's  half 
centur}^  of  life  had  been  an  incessant  battle.  Now  he 
smote  Francis  I. ;  now  he  caged  a  Protestant  prince ; 
now  he  buffeted  the  pope ;  now  he  pulled  the  beard 
of  the  paynim  Solyman.  But  he  was  a  lover  of 
dramatic  effect ;  and  when  he  decided  upon  abdica- 
tion he  was  anxious  to  improvise  a  peace,  that  a 
serene  sky  might  lend  lustre  to  the  pageant.  He 
began  to  intrigue.  "Hush,"  said  Caesar;  and  he 
juggled  up  a  truce,  hollow,  treacherous,  made  to  be 
broken,  but  sohd  enough  to  bridge  over  the  period 
of  the  imperial  comedy. 

A  farce  of  a  pacification  was  signed  at  Vaucelles 
early  in  1556.*  It  was  ostensibly  an  armistice  for 
five  years,  and  suspended  hostilities  throughout 
Europe.  "Ah  ha,"  cried  Charles.  "  'Tis  well,"  said 
Philip.  "  Good,"  exclaimed  Henry.  Complacent 
diplomacy  rubbed  its  hands.  "  The  science  of  gov- 
ernment is  fraud,"  says  Machiavelli;  and  while  the 
negotiators  were  assembled  at  Vaucelles,  Henry  II. 
and  the  pope  had  concluded  an  offensive  and  defen- 
sive alliance  against  Spain,  whose  object  was  the 
expulsion  of  the  Spaniards  from  the  Italian  penin- 
sula.i-     Henry  was  to  aid  the  pontiff  to  emancipate 

*  Mcteren,  De  Tliou,  Br;iiitomc. 
f  Brantoinc,  Memoircs  do  Colignj'. 
7* 


154  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

himself  from  neiglibors  whose  influence  reduced  him 
to  the  position  of  head  chapLain  to  the  court  of 
Madrid;  and  as  a  reward  he  was  to  be  permitted 
"  to  carve  thrones  for  his  royal  brood  out  of  the 
confiscated  realms  of  Philip^ — out  of  Naples  and 
Milan.  "When  was  France  ever  slow  to  sweep  upon 
Italy  with  such  a  hope  ?  How  could  the  ever-glow- 
ing rivalry  of  Valois  and  Hapsburg  fail  to  burst  into 
a  general  conflagration,  while  the  venerable  vicege- 
rent of  Christ  stood  beside  them  fan  in  hand?"* 

The  reigning  pope,  Paul  IV.,  was  the  Faust  of 
ecclesiasticism,  the  antithesis  of  Charles,  While  the 
emperor  laid  down  a  crown  to  become  a  monk,  Paul 
Caraffa  quitted  his  convent  cell  —  whither  he  had 
betaken  himself  after  abdicating  the  episcopal  dig- 
nity— to  assume  at  eighty  the  tiara,  and  then  im- 
merse himself  in  the  vanities  of  earth,  to  stir  up  wars 
Avith  his  trembling  fingers,  to  croak  havoc  with  his 
aged  voice,  and  to  strut  and  totter  in  the  purple  in 
his  second  childhood. t  Such  was  the  game  which 
v.-as  now  afoot,  and  such  was  the  pontiff  who  had 
launched  it. 

With  a  heavy  sigh  and  a  muttered  curse,  Phihp 
postponed  his  Netherland  schemes,  and  turned  to 
the  consideration  of  foreign  affairs.  He  hated  war— 
for  he  was  not  a  soldier,  he  was  only  an  assassin. 
He  preferred  autos  da  fe  to  battle-fields ;  the  pleas- 
ure was  greater,  and  the  risk  was  less.  Besides,  he 
felt  the  anomaly  of  his  position — he,  the  Pvomanist, 
the  fanatic,  the  antagonist  of  the  pope.     It  was  his 

<*  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  153,  et  seq.  \  lianke.  Brandt. 


SCHEMES.  155 

dream  to  consolidate  a  league  of  the  papal  powers, 
for  the  purpose  of  uprooting  heresy.  Evidently, 
then,  this  absurd  crusade  of  mutual  friends  against 
each  other  must  be  ended ;  and  how  end  it  more 
fitly  than  by  union  against  Protestantism,  the  com- 
mon foe?  To  the  consummation  of  that  purpose, 
the  royal  plotter  determined  to  demand  every 
thing,  or  to  sacrifice  every  thing,  as  circumstances 
might  dictate;  for  whatever  he  might  win,  or  what- 
ever he  might  lose,  all  Avas  gained  if  that  was 
gained.* 

Meantime  this  sluggish  prince  acted  for  once 
with  strange  energy,  the  vicious  activity  of  his  mind 
conquered  even  the  stubborn  slowness  of  his  body. 
Convening  a  council  of  theologians,  he  asked,  "  Is 
it  lawful  for  me  to  wage  war  against  the  Holy  See  ?" 
"  Yea,  truly,"  responded  the  chorus,  "  so  it  be  only 
in  defence."! 

With  this  decision  in  his  pocket,  Philip  crossed 
into  England  to  cajole  Queen  Mary,  his  wife — fit 
consort  for  such  a  king — and  to  browbeat  the  Brit- 
ish parliament,  exactly  contrary  to  his  marriage 
vows,  into  a  participation  in  the  ponding  contest — 
which  concerned  England  just  as  much  as  it  did 
the  Arabs.:]:  He  succeeded.  England  declared  war ; 
and  while  arming,  dropped  from  her  girdle  Calais, 
the  key  to  France.! 

*  Watson,  Life  of  Philip  11.     Apolog.  d'Orange. 
I  Michele,   Relatione,  MS.      Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  1,   p.   163. 
Gayane. 

t  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  Ifi9. 

§  De  Thou,  Brantome,  Hume,  in  loco. 


15()  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

While  the  king  was  thus  occupied,  Ruy  Gomez, 
absent  in  Spain,  had  raised  a  contingent  and  sent  it 
to  the  seat  of  war  ;*  and  Philip,  on  his  return  from 
England,  wrung  the  money  which  paid  for  this 
strife,  and  two  thirds  of  the  soldiers  who  won  barren 
laurels  in  it,  from  the  Netherlands.  Then  followed 
siege  and  counter-siege,  marching  and  counter- 
marching, melde,  and  rout,  and  death.  Finally, 
Guise,  who  had  passed  the  Alps  into  Piedmont,  was 
worsted  by  Alva,  who  held  Italy  for  Philip ;  Coligny, 
who  had  been  ravaging  Artois,  was  cooped  up  in 
the  fatal  city  of  St.  Quentin ;  and  France  heard  one 
day  that  her  power  had  been  broken  in  two  awful 
routs,  at  St.  Quentin  and  at  Gravelines,  and  that  her 
noblest  children  were  either  dead  or  prisoners — a 
double  Pavia  ;t  while  Pope  Paul  IV.,  also  in  ex- 
tremity, craved  peace  for  his  old  age. 

Philip,  elate  and  triumphant,  then  exhibited  his 
true  character.  "  I  crave  peace  at  any  price,"  said 
he:t^ — why,  we  know.  He  granted  the  baffled  occu- 
pant of  St.  Peter's  chair  terms  which  astonished  no 
one  more  than  Paul  himself ;  ordered  the  victorious 
Alva  to  make  an  abject  submission  for  him  to  the 
pope,  and  to  kiss  the  great  toe  of  his  holiness ;  and 
crowned  this  pitiful  surrender  to  the  vanity  of  a 
peevish  old  dotard  by  a  congenial  act  of  perfidy — 
for  he  confirmed  his  grumbling  captain's  consent 
to  the  confiscation  of  the  estates  of  those  Italian 

*  DoCTimentos  lueditos  para  la  Hist,  de  Espana,  vol.  9,  p.  487. 

f  BrautOme,  De  Thoii,  Motley. 

t  Watsou,  Life  of  Pliilip  II.     Gayarre,  p.  10. 


SCHEMES.  157 

princes  who  had  espoused  his  cause."  "  Sire,"  que- 
ried Alva,  "Do  we  capitulate,  or  does  the  pope?" 

Having  thus  placated  the  beaten  pontiff  by 
treating  with  him  as  the  conqueror,  Philip  next 
cemented  peace  with  France.  In  this  treaty  ho 
compelled  Henry  II.  to  concede  important  advan- 
tages,! but  he  did  not  ask  all  that  he  might,  because 
he  gained  all  that  he  wished  when  he  was  assured 
that  Henry  would  cordially  unite  with  him  in  any 
scheme  which  looked  to  the  extirpation  of  here- 
sy, |  The  gloomy  and  victorious  bigot  was  now  at 
leisure  to  resume  his  interrupted  game  in  the  Neth- 
erlands— to  resume  it  with  fresh  advantage,  forti- 
fied on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left. 

So  bright  was  the  out-look  for  despotism — so 
portentous  were  the  prospects  of  reform — when,  in 
April,  1559,§  the  facile  diplomats  scrawled  their 
signatures  across  the  treaty  of  Chateau-Cambray. 

■-'  Grattan,  p.  82,  et  seq.     Gayarre,  Motley, 
f  Meteren,  Grotius,  De  Thou. 

t  Apolog.  cT'Orauge.  De  Thoii,  lib.  22,  cap.  G.  Davics,  vol. 
1,  p.  497. 

§  De  Thou,  Meteren. 


158  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

CHAPTEK   X. 

THE   MASK  LIFTED. 

The  pacification  of  Cliateaii-Cambra}^  placed  in 
Philip's  hand  the  haton  of  the  dictator  of  Christen- 
dom—  recognized   in   him   a   dreaded    superiority 
■which  menaced  the  independence  of  Europe.     His 
wealth  seemed  inexhaustible ;  deep  as  the  unfath- 
omed  gold  mines  of  Peru  and  Mexico,  which  formed 
his  coffers  in  the  West,  untold  as  the  glittering  dia- 
mond heaps  of  Borneo  and  Golconda,  which  formed 
his  dowry  in  the  Orient.     His  captains  were  the 
ablest  of  the  age.     His  soldiers  were  veterans  har- 
dened by  war,  accustomed  to  victory,  habituated  to 
obey  the  daring  genius  of  their  leaders  with  blind, 
unquestioning  audacity — soldiers  Avhose  tread,  like 
that  of  Csesar's  cohorts,  shook  Europe ;  soldiers  who 
had  scaled  the  pyramids,  and  i)lanted  the  Spanish 
banners  on  the  walls  of  Eome.     Had  he  been  Alex- 
ander, he  would  have  ground  the  world  under  the 
heel  of  his  military  boot.     Had  he  been  Caesar,  ho 
would  have   carved   out   an   empire  whose  limits 
would  have  been  the  globe.    But  he  was  Philip  11. , 
and  it  was  his  ambition  to  become  the  assassin  of 
Netherland  reform.     This  was  the  pivotal  point  of 
his   policy ;    upon   it   he   brought    all  his   terrible 
resources  to  bear.     "  I  will  succeed,  or  I  will  sink 
Europe,"  said  he.     Philip  was  narrow,  dogmatic, 
fanatical ;  but  ho  had  a  purpose,  and  he  was  in 


THE   MASK  LIFTED.  159 

deadly  earnest — the  chief  promoters  of  success  in 
any  sphere.  But  cunning  and  powerful  as  he  was, 
this  bold,  bad  man  had  one  antagonist  on  whom  he 
did  not  count,  God ;  God,  whose  name  is  love,  and 
whose  other  name  is  justice,  which  was  before 
Philip,  before  Eome,  and  will  be  after  it. 

Still,  Philip  entered  the  arena  with  all  the  ma- 
terial forces  on  his  side. 

Peace  is  the  essential  condition  of  successful 
commerce,  and  the  Netherlanders  craved  it.  When 
they  heard  that  a  pacification  had  been  signed,  the 
jocund,  excitable  burghers  were  wild  with  delight. 
The  holiday  was  nine  days  long.  Bonfires  blazed, 
bells  pealed,  cannon  belched  pacific  flame.  But 
thoughtful  men  looked  on  the  jubilee  with  gloomy 
faces  and  foreboding  hearts — what  meant  the  con- 
ditions of  the  peace  ?  Humor  had  already  bruited 
the  alliance  of  crowned  heads  for  the  extirpation  of 
heresy.*  Across  keen  souls  there  fell  the  chilling 
shadow  of  the  future. 

Suspicion  might  well  awaken  thought.  "  Philip 
had  not  inade  peace  with  all  the  world  that  the 
Netherlanders  might  climb  on  poles,  or  ring  bells, 
or  strew  flowers  in  his  path  for  a  joyous  movement, 
and  then  return  once  more  to  their  counting-rooms 
and  looms."  This  treaty  meant  deadlier  war,  war 
bitter  for  its  peaceful  garb  ;  and  when  the  unthink- 
ing populace  rose  to  hail  it,  they  shouted  over  the 
initial  step  in  a  scheme  which  Philip  mesnt  to  end 
in  a  national  murder. 

*  Davies,  vol.  ],  p.  497.    Thuanus,  Mete.  on. 


160  THE  DUTCH   REFORMATION. 

The  king  had  long  pined  for  the  congenial  atmo- 
sphere of  Madrid;-  in  1559  he  determined  to  quit 
the  Netherlands  and  return  to  Spain.  He  had  a 
twofold  motive :  he  thought  that  it  would  be  safer 
for  him  to  direct  the  movements  of  his  satellites  at 
a  distance  and  by  impersonality;  he  dearly  loved  to 
write  voluminous  despatches.t  Evidently,  Madrid 
was  preferable  to  Brussels, 

Possibly,  two  additional  considerations  may 
have  influenced  this  decision.  Charles  V.  had  just 
breathed  his  last,  bewailing  his  impious  folly  in 
permitting  Luther  to  slip  through  his  fingers  at 
Worms.:]:  and  employing  the  last  fevered  spasms  of 
his  strength  in  writing  these  lines  to  his  son,  whose 
eager  spirit  did  not  need  a  spur :  "  Deal  to  all 
heretics  the  extremest  rigor  of  the  law,  without 
respect  of  persons,  and  without  regard  to  any  favor- 
ing pleas."§  Philip  could  now  return  to  Spain  more 
really  a  king  than  he  would  have  been  while  Caesar 
lived,  even  though  weakened  and  fanaticized  by  a 
rot  of  his  faculties,  and  buried  in  a  monastery. 

The  battle  of  St.  Quentiu,  one  of  the  most  deci- 
sive of  the  recent  war,  had  been  fought  and  won  on 
the  festival  of  St.  Laurence,  to  whose  intervention 
Philip  attributed  the  success  of  his  arms.  In  grate- 
ful homage  to  the  saint,  and  to  commemorate  the 
manner  of  his  martyrdom,  he  vowed  to  erect  a  mon- 
ument in  the  form  of  a  gridiron,  as  a  memorial — an 
idea  which  gradually  expanded,  in  thirty-two  years 

*  Watson,  Gayarre.  t  Ibid.,  Brantome. 

t  Stirling.     Cloister  Life  of  Charles  V.  §  Ibid. 


THE  MASK   LIFTED.  101 

of  incessant  labor,  into  that  gigantic  architectural 
absurdity,  the  Escurial,  at  once  a  palace,  monas- 
tery, and  mausoleum.-  Philip's  anxiety  to  return  to 
Spain  may  have  been  heightened  by  his  pious  ardor, 
for,  soon  after,  he  laid  the  foundation-stone  of  the 
marble  anachronism. 

But  many  things  remained  to  be  done  before  he 
could  shake  the  Netherland  dust  from  off  his  feet. 
"  Let  me  see,"  thought  the  king :  "  some  grave 
matters  await  adjustment ;  delicate  and  menacing 
questions  must  be  answered ;  a  programme  for  the 
future  will  have  to  be  written  out ;  the  instruments 
of  my  despotism  must  be  selected,  and  so  selected 
as  not  to  provoke  suspicion ;  and  the  government 
must  be  deputized  and  new  modelled."  To  these 
several  duties  Philip  at  once  addressed  himself.  It 
was  work  to  his  taste ;  for,  as  the  petrel  loves  the 
storm,  so  his  element  was  chicanery. 

The  Netherlands  were  ominously  restless  and 
fretful.  Illegal  robbery,  under  the  name  of  taxa- 
tion, fettered  trade,  and  mortgaged  the  labor  of  the 
future.t  A  bureau  of  ubiquitous  spies  made  all 
classes  anxious  and  uneasy  by  their  surveillance.:]: 
The  merciless  execution  of  the  merciless  edicts 
against  heresy,  stirred  constant  riot§  and  insured 
rebellion;  for  what  is  it  that  the  old  saw  says? 
"Persecution  necessitates  revolt."  The  most  potent 
and  eloquent  of  reformers  was  the  Inquisition ;  for 
every  auto  dafe  that  it  kindled  illuminated  a  score  of 

«  Watson,  Gayarre.  t  Meteren,  Wagenajr. 

X  Watson,  Hoofd.  §  Hoofd,  Meteren. 


162  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

darkened  souls.  The  early  victims  begat  the  later 
soldiers  of  the  Eeformation.  The  gospel  throve 
even  amid  devastation ;  and  when  a  martyr  died, 
the  multitude  saw  liberty  and  virtue  burning  by  his 
side. 

Philip  had  taken  care,  on  the  conclusion  of 
peace,  to  canton  his  Spanish  men-at-arms  on  the 
large  cities  of  the  Netherlands,  for  the  double  pur- 
pose of  overawing  local  mutiny  and  having  them  at 
hand  in  case  of  need.*  At  the  same  time  he  split 
the  renowned  Low  Country  cavahy — but  three 
thousand  strong  in  time  of  peace,  for  the  Nether- 
lands had  a  sturdy  republican  distrust  of  standing- 
armies,  though  still  redoubtable  to  the  fears  of  despo- 
tism— into  infinitesimal  squads,  and  scattered  these 
in  different  sections  under  independent  captains.! 

These  sinister  movements  increased  the  popular 
discontent,  and  were  universally  construed  to  be  a 
menace  to  the  nationality  of  the  i:)rovinces.:j:  The 
conduct  of  the  foreign  soldiery  added  fuel  to  the 
fire.  Their  ribaldry  and  lic'entiousness  were  pro- 
verbial ;  and  since  their  pay  was  kept  habitually  in 
arrears  by  Philip  that  he  might  have  a  pretext  for 
their  retention,  they  did  not  hesitate  to  indemnify 
themselves  at  the  expense  of  the  citizens.§ 

A  trial  of  wits  ensued.  The  burghers  exhausted 
persviasion  in  their  effort  to  win  Philip's  assent  to 
the  departure  of  his  troops  ;  the  king  was  fertile  in 

'-•  Grattau,  Schiller,  Motley,  Wageuper. 

f  Grattan,  p.  85.     Motley,  yoI.  1,  p.  210,  et  seq. 

t  Van  der  Vynckt,  vol.  1,  p.  135.  §  Scliiller,  p.  400. 


THE   MASK  LIFTED.  163 

excuses — now  lie  dreaded  a  sudden  invasion  from 
France,  althougli  that  kingdom,  rent  by  the  League 
and  Huguenot  wars,  was  too  weak  to  send  a  trooper 
across  lier  frontiers  ;  now  lie  said  that  they  were  to 
form  the  escort  of  his  son,  Don  Carlos,  whom  ho 
was  careful  to  retain  in  Castile ;  again  they  were  his 
■creditors,  and  since  the  exchequer  was  empty,  "quite 
exhausted,  gentlemen,  I  assure  you,"  he  dared  not 
bid  them  go  unpaid  lest  they  should  mutiny — such 
were  the  exj)edients  to  which  he  had  recourse.* 
These  men-at-arms  were  a  part  of  Philip's  pro- 
gramme of  usurpation,  and  necessary  to  his  pur- 
pose ;  he  never  meant  to  say  good-by  to  them. 
Despots  love  bayonets.  Cannon  were  the  props  of 
this  king's  throne. 

But  the  greater  the  desire  which  Philip  showed 
to  retain  his  docile  Spaniards  in  the  country,  the 
more  obstinately  the  states  insisted  upon  their 
removal :  t  on  that  point  all  classes  were  a  unit. 
The  spirit  showed  itself  in  various  ways — especially 
in  the  "  Cliambers  of  Khctoric."  The  rhetoricians 
were  the  newspapers  of  that  day^filled  the  exact 
place  occupied  by  the  modern  press,  and  used  their 
influence  better  than  some  editors  use  theirs  in  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  They  \vere  emi- 
nently liberal  in  their  tendencies,  and  they  made  it 
their  business  to  spin  verses  and  street  farces  out  of 
the  raw  material  of  public  sentiment.^  Civil  and 
religious  tyranny  was  their  constant  butt ;  and 
"sharing  with  the  pulpit  the  only  power  which  then 

«  Scliillcr,  p.  401.  t  I^i<i-  t  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  3i0. 


164  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

existed  capable  of  moving  the  passions  and  direct-  • 
ing  the  opinions  of  the  people,"  they  used  their 
influence  nobly.  The  best  of  their  comedians  was 
not  even  cousin-german  to  Aristophanes;  but  if 
they  had  less  attic  salt,  they  had  equal  heartiness 
in  their  truculent,  effective,  homely  Satire,  and  they 
made  "  tlie  galled  horse  wince." 

The  court  had  long  suspected  and  watched  these 
homely  wits ;  and  now,  when  they  began  to  satirize 
the  king's  men-at-arms,  the  bishop  of  Arras  urged 
that  they  be  gagged  under  heavy  pains,  and-a  pla- 
card to  that  effect  was  issued  early  in  1559.*  "  At 
this  time,"  wrote  Sir  Eichard  Clougli  to  a  friend  in 
England  some  years  later,  "  these  plays  are  forbid- 
den much  more  strictly  than  any  of  the  works  of 
Martin  Lutlier."t  But  it  is  easier  to  ban  than  to 
suppress.  Public  opinion  cannot  be  gagged  by 
statutes.  So  new  comedies  were  still  written  and 
enacted — "plajs  which  first  opened  the  word  of 
God  in  the  Low  Countries,  and  which,  as  they  were 
persisted  in,  cost  many  thousand  lives.";|: 

At  this  same  time,  Philip,  always  anxious  to 
enlarge  the  boundaries  of  the  ecclesiastical  realm, 
solicited  from  the  pontiff'  permission  to  erect  four- 
teen new  bishoprics  in  the  Netherlands — sending 
the  request  to  Eome  on  the  two  feet  of  a  double 
reason:  the  insufficiency  of  the  existing  seas  to  sup- 
ply the  spiritual  wants  of  an  increasing  "population; 
and  their  weakness,  imenlarged,  as  a  barrier  against 

"  Burgon,  Life  and  Times,  vol.  1,  p.  377,  et  seq. 

f  Burgon,  ut  anka.  X  Il^it^l- 


THE  MASK  LIFTED.  105 

heresy.*  Tlie  octogenarian  pope,  willing  to  pleas- 
ure a  prince  whose  victorious  viceroy  bad  kissed 
Ills  toe,  and  eager  to  smite  reform,  readily  granted 
a  bull  decreeing  the  innovation.f 

Perhaps  this  manoeuvre  was  the  most  generally 
odious  of  Philip's  acts  thus  far;  the  Netherland 
churchmen  were  incensed  because  the  revenues  of 
the  new  sees  were  to  be  created  by  alienating  a 
portion  of  the  funds  of  the  existing  bishoprics  and 
abbeys — against  which  their  fat  pockets  vehement- 
ly protested;:!:  the  nobles  were  angered  because  the 
prelates  thus  created  were  certain  to  be  the  subser- 
vient tools  of  the  Spanish  interest,  eclipsing  them 
by  superior  power  and  dignity  ;§  the  people,  largely 
converted  to  a  purer  faith,  and  detesting  the  very 
name  of  priest,  were  convinced  by  their  keen  in- 
stincts, and  rightly  convinced,  spite  of  the  king's 
declaration  that  the  project  was  a  century  old,  be- 
queathed from  father  to  son  and  neglected  till  now, 
but  now  enforced  by  the  emperor's  dying  admoni- 
tions,ll  that  the  "  sole  purpose  for  which  the  new 
bishops  were  instituted  was  to  increase  the  efficien- 
cy of  the  Inquisition — a  conviction  substantiated 
by  the  fact  that  each  prelate  was  empowered  to 
appoint  nine  prebendaries  in  his  cathedral  to  assist 
the  accents  of  that  abhorrent  tribunal,  while  two  of 
their  own  number  were  themselves  inquisitors. "IT 

But  the  conflicting  excuses  from  day  to  day  put 

*  Strada,  p.  17.     Mirrei  Dip.,  torn.  3,  p.  523. 

t  rijit^-    Davies,  vol.  1,  p.  497.    Grattan.        t  Ibid.        §  Ibid. 

II  Strada,  p.  17.     Davios,  vol.  1,  p.  498.  II  Ibid. 


166  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

forth  for  the  retention  of  the  Spanish  troops,  the 
placard  against  the  comedians,  the  erection  of  the 
new  sees,  and  the  sullen  temper  of  the  provinces, 
did  not  disturb  the  icy  serenity  of  Philip,  nor  make 
him  hesitate;  they  only  quickened  his  movements 
and  pushed  forward  the  reorganization  of  the  gov- 
ernment— necessitated  by  his  approaching  depart- 
ure, and  by  Emanuel  Philibert's  resignation  of  the 
governor-generalship  of  the  states,  in  consequence 
of  the  restoration  to  him  by  France  of  his  long-lost 
duchy  of  Savoy,  in  compliance  with  a  clause  of  the 
treaty  of  Chateau-Cambray." 

It  was  necessary  to  refill  the  deserted  office  at 
an  early  day,  since  Philip  grew  hourly  more  impa- 
tient to  quit  Brussels.  "Who  should  succeed  the  re- 
cusant duke?  The  court  was  perturbed,  the  citizens 
were  anxious.  The  merits  of  those  most  likely  to 
succeed  Philibert  were  ardently  canvassed.  In  this 
talk  of  the  drawing-rooms  and  the  sidewalk,  three 
names  were  especially  prominent — the  duchess  of 
Lorraine,  Count  Egmont,  and  the  prince  of»Orange.+ 
Who  were  they  ? 

*  De  Thou,  Bran  tome. 

t  Meteren,  Strada,  Wagenaer. 


EGMONT  AND   ORANGE.  167 

CHAPTER  XI. 

EGMONT   AND   OEANGE. 

One  of  tlie  three  personages  who  seemed  most 
certain  to  succeed  PhiHbert  in  the  Netherland 
regency,  was  Christierne,  duchess  of  Lorraine,  Cae- 
sar's niece,  and  cousin-german  to  the  king.  A 
woman  of  rare  political  talent,  she  had  been  fore- 
most in  negotiating  the  recent  treaty  of  peace ;  and 
this  circumstance,  added  to  her  high  rank  and  per- 
sonal fitness,  gave  her  claim  no  small  authority.* 

The  suit  of  Lamoral,  Count  Egmont,  prince  of 
Gavere,  was  pressed  by  his  own  great  achievements 
and  by  the  popular  voice.  He  Avas  the  most  dash- 
ing and  brilliant  captain  of  his  age ;  worthy  to  have 
filled  the  vacant  seat  among  the  Round  Table 
knights.  It  was  to  him  that  Philip  was  indebted 
for  the  crushing  victories  of  St.  Quentin  and  Grave- 
lines,!  and  the  wars  of  the  emperor  had  been  the 
school  of  his  genius.  Though  his  brow  was  crown- 
less,  he  could  boast  of  as  lofty  a  lineage  as  most 
anointed  kings;  for  he  traced  his  origin  up  to  the 
Frisian  Radbold,  while  many  illustrious  marriages 
had  allied  him  to  scores  of  the  first  European  fami- 
lies, and  centred  in  him  some  of  the  proudest  titles 
and  some  of  the  richest  estates  of  the  Low  Coun- 
tries.t    "Flemish  pride,  like  a  fond  mother,  exulted 

«  Strada,  p.  19.     Meteren.  t  Ibid.,  Brantome. 

t  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  171. 


168  THE  DUTCH   REFOKMATION. 

over  this  illustrious  son,  who  had  filled  Christen- 
dom with  admiration.  His  appearance  on  the  street 
was  a  triumphal  procession;  every  eye  which  Avas 
fastened  upon  him  recounted  his  exploits ;  his  deeds 
lived  in  the  plaudits  of  his  companions-in-arms ;  at 
the  games  of  chivalry  mothers  pointed  him  out  to 
their  children  as  a  model."* 

Egmont  was  at  this  time  thirty-eight  years  oldf  — 
in  the  noon  of  a  life  as  yet  sunny  and  unclouded. 
Happy  and  prosperous  himself,  he  was  inclined  to 
underrate  the  dangers  which  menaced  his  country. 
Indeed,  his  temper  led  him  to  see  every  thing  couleur 
de  rose;  for,  light  and  buoyant,  the  cares  which 
ploughed  his  heart  at  one  moment,  only  insured 
a  harvest  of  fresh  hopes  at  the  next. 

The  truth  is,  that  he  was  volatile  and  vain — vain 
of  his  handsome  person,  of  his  magnificent  cos- 
tume, of  his  dark  lovelocks,  of  his  soft  brown  eye, 
of  his  smooth  cheek,  of  his  features,  almost  femi- 
ninely delicate,  but  emboldened  by  a  slight  mus- 
tache ;X  "^i^ii^  of  l^is  fame  and  of  his  popularity.§ 
For,  though  a  Dutchman,  Egmont  resembled  the 
fickle  "Walloons  of  the  southern  provinces,  and  fatally 
lacked  the  firmness  of  character,  the  tenacity  of 
purpose  which  have  placed  the  Saxon  race  in  the 
van  of  modern  civilization.  He  was  easily  cozened 
and  easily  led,  and  open  to  a  fault.  Carrying  his 
unsuspecting  soul  on  his  brow,  "his  frankheart- 
edness  managed  his   secrets   no   better  than  his 

«  Schiller,  p.  401.  f  He  was  born  in  lo22. 

t  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  100.  §  Brantonie,  Schiller,  Davie.s. 


EGMONT  AND  OEANGE.  1G9 

lavish  benevolence  did  liis  immense  estate,  and  a 
tliouglit  was  no  sooner  Lis  than  it  was  the  propertj'- 
of  all"  —  a  dangerous  trait  in  that  age,  and  one 
unfitting  him  for  diplomacy,  which  Machiavelli  and 
the  Medicis  had  reduced  to  a  science  of  fraud. 

Egmont  had  a  conscience,  but  was  without  fixed 
principles.  His  religion  was  of  the  mildest  Roman 
type,  and  not  enlightened,  because  it  derived  its 
light  from  a  code  which  he  had  learned  by  rote,  not 
from  the  heart  and  the  intellect.*  In  a  word,  though 
fascinating  and  pure-minded,  he  was  a  mere  sol- 
dier;  beyond  that,  he  was  a  childish  bungler — a 
human  pipe  played  on  by  cunning  fingers.  He  often 
fettered  his  patriotism  by  lower  duties ;  was  as  timid 
in  council  as  brave  in  the  field;  and  was  sure  to 
bend  when  he  should  stand  firm,  and  to  stand  firm 
when  he  should  have  bent.  Thus  he  was  at  one  time 
the  puppet,  at  another  the  victim,  of  Spanish  perfid3^ 

The  prince  of  Orange  was  another  of  these  can- 
didates. From  this  moment  Orange  becomes  the 
pivotal  man  of  the  Netherland  drama — the  brain 
and  the  right  hand  of  the  revolution ;  it  is  fit,  there- 
fore, for  us  to  pause  and  make,  his  acquaintance. 

William  of  Nassau,  prince  of  Orange,  was  born, 
at  the  castle  of  Dillembergh,  in  the  German  county 
of  Nassau,  on  the  25th  of  April,  1533.1-  God  granted 
him  to  be  the  heir  of  a  glorious  past  as  well  as  the 
inaugurator  and  liberator  of  a  grander  future ;  for 

«  Scbilleif  p.  409. 

t  Lives  of  the  Princes  of  the  House  of  Oratigc,  p.  2.     Loadon, 
1734. 

1)111. 'ii  rii-r.  Q 


170  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

he,  too,  like  Egmont,  was  the  representative  of  an 
august  and  ancient  family,  able  to  boast,  with  the 
Venetian  oligarchy,  that  it  stood  upon  the  basis  of 
a  thousand  years,  yet  whose  age  had  been  from 
time  to  time  reinvigorated  by  puissant  alliances, 
until  now  its  head  was  as  wealthy  and  as  influential 
as  most  kings.* 

For  many  generations  the  house  of  Nassau  was 
divided — a  kind  of  double  unit.  One  branch  re- 
mained in  Germany — tarried  to  wear  the  purple  in 
the  person  of  Adolph  of  Nassau,  and  to  give,  besides, 
countless  captains,  bishops,  and  electors  to  the  Fa- 
therland. The  other  branch,  though  retaining  the 
sovereignty  of  the  modest  birthplace  of  their  house, 
Nassau,  emigrated  to  the  Netherlands  and  at  once 
attained  influence  and  authority.t  Just  previous 
to  the  birth  of  the  liberator,  two  brothers  held  the 
entire  estates,  Count  Henry  inheriting  the  Low 
Country  properties,  Count  "WilHam  succeeding  to 
the  German  sovereignties.:]:  It  was  Count  Henrj' 
to  whom  Charles  V.  was  indebted  for  his  empire — 
he  who  cheated  Francis  I.  out  of  the  crown — he 
who  placed  that  royal  bauble  on  the  head  of  Cc^esar 
at  Aix-la-Chapelle  :§  spite  of  which,  Francis,  with 
singular  generosity,  married  him  to  Claude  de  Cha- 
lons, whose  dowry  was  the  sovereignty  of  Chalons. 
From  this  union  sprang  Rene  of  Nassau,  who,  later, 

«'  Lives  of  the  Princes  of  the  House  of  Orange,  p.  2.    Loudon, 
1734.     Ai'chives  de  la  Maison  d'Orange.     Nassau,  t(jm.  1. 
t  Motley,  voh  1,  p.  235. 
J  Lives  of  the  Princes,  etc.     Archives,  etc.  §  Ibid. 


EGMONT  AND  ORANGE.  171 

acquired  the  little  principalit}'  of  Orange,  in  France, 
as  heir  to  his  mother's  brother  Philibert  of  Chalons, 
prince  of  Orange,  who  died  childless.*  Meantime, 
Count  William  also  had  married  a  noble  lady,  Juli- 
ana of  Stalberg ;  and  this  couple,  too,  had  a  son — 
the  first  of  a  numerous  progeny — whom  they  named 
William,  and  whose  earliest  breath  was  drawn  in 
the  ancient  cradle  of  his  race.t 

Years  sped,  and  little  William  was  in  his  elev- 
enth year,  when  news  reached  Dillembergh  that 
Prince  Ilend  had  been  killed  at  the  emperor's  feet 
in  the  trenches  before  St.  Dizier,  leaving  to  his 
cousin  the  whole  magnificent  inheritance  of  Nassau, 
Chalons,  and  Orange  —  a  retinue  of  principalities 
stretching  from  Germany  through  Holland,  Flan- 
ders, Brabant,  and  Luxemburgh,  to  the  old  king- 
dom of  the  popes.l  So  much  for  the  genealogy  of 
the  Nassaus ;  let  genealogists  look  closer  if  they  will, 
we  know  enough  for  the  purpose  of  these  pages. 

Of  course,  this  accidental  union  in  his  person  of 
the  immense  possessions  of  his  house,  broadened 
and  elevated  the  young  prince's  destinj^  "  Yes, 
yes,"  muttered  Charles,  "  this  brave  little  monsei- 
gneur  must  be  looked  to ;  I  '11  have  him  here  at 
court."  This  purpose  was  strengthened  by  the 
fact  that  William's  parents  were  Lutherans,  and  had 
been  among  the  first  to  embrace,  and  the  most  ac- 
tive to  propagate,  the  principles  of  the  Ileformation.§ 

•''  Archives,  etc.,  id  aniea.  t  Ibid. 

X  Ibid.     VandervjTickt,  Troubles  des  Pays  Bas,  torn.  1. 
§  Ibid.     Robertson,  Hist,  of  Cliarles  Y, 


172  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

Thus  far  the  boy  had  been  educated  in  the  gospel 
faith.*  The  emperor  saw  this  with  alarm ;  and  one 
of  the  chief  objects  of  his  proposed  removal  of  the 
prince  was  to  run  him,  like  ductile  metal,  in  the 
mould  of  Latin  orthodoxy.f 

William  was  brought  to  Brussels  at  the  age  of 
twelve,  and  placed  in  the  family  of  Queen  Mary  of 
Hungary,  then  governant  of  the  Netherlands,  where 
he  was  bred  in  the  Koman  tenets.:]:  He  became 
and  remained  through  his  early  manhood,  a  nomi- 
nal papist ;  but  the  prayerful  letters  of  his  pious 
mother,  and  the  good  seed  sown  in  his  boyish  heart 
in  the  old  Dillembergh  castle,  flowered  at  last  in 
ardent  Protestantism,  as  we  shall  see. 

At  fifteen,  the  prince  was  transferred  into  the 
imperial  household,  and  passed  under  Caesar's  eye 
as  his  special  page.§  Charles  prided  himself  on  his 
ability  to  read  and  use  men,  and  his  discernment  in 
this  case  proved  that  he  possessed  that  crucial  test 
of  greatness ;  for  he  at  once  recognized  the  extraor- 
dinary character  of  his  3'outhful  attendant,  and 
made  him  his  intimate,  confidential  friend. 11  Here 
William  resided  for  nine  years ;  here  he  was  initia- 
ted into  the  tortuous  politics  of  his  epoch ;  here  he 
studied  history  with  attention,  and  learned  to  speak 
and  write  Latin,  French,  German,  Dutch,  and  Span- 
ish with  equal  facility  and  elegance.l 

But  chiefly  the  thoughtful  boy  studied  men ;  Lc 

*  Eobertsou,  Hist,  of  Charles  V.     Lives  of  the  Princes  of  the 
House  of  Orange.  .    f  Ibid. ,  p.  7. 

X  Ibid.    Prescott,  Schiller,  etc.        §  Ibid.        ||  Ibid.        If  Ibid. 


EGMONT  AND  OEANGE.  173 

monde  est  un  livre — the  world  is  a  book;  aud  this 
volume  he  mastered  thoroughly.  lu  the  earliest 
months  of  his  residence  at  court,  Charles  was  accus- 
tomed to  retain  him  at  his  side  even  in  interviews 
with  the  highest  diplomats,  and  on  the  gravest  ques- 
tions.* The  secrets  of  the  empire  were  intrusted 
to  his  discretion ;  and  Caesar  once  declared  that 
William  had  often  furnished  him  counsel,  and  ex- 
temporized for  him  expedients  of  which  otherwise 
he  had  never  thought.f  In  such  a  school  "  the 
perceptive  and  reflective  faculties  of  the  future 
statesman,  naturally  of  remarkable  keenness  and 
depth,  acquired  a  precocious  aud  extraordinary 
development.  He  was  brought  up  behind  the  cur- 
tain— in  the  green-room  of  that  great  stage  where 
the  world's  dramas  were  daily  enacted ;  therefore 
the  machinery  and  masks  which  produced  the  grand 
delusions  of  history  had  no  deception  for  him. 
Carefully  to  observe  men's  actions,  and  silently  to 
ponder  their  motives — this  was  the  favorite  occupa- 
tion of  the  prince  during  his  apprenticeship  at 
court.":}: 

Charles  loved  to  honor  him  ;  now  employing  his 
dexterous  wit,  now  invoking  his  military  genius.  It 
was  Orange,  scarcely  yet  of  age,  whom  he  appointed 
'  generalissimo  in  the  place  of  Philibert,  in  the  French 
war  which  preceded  his  abdication — chose  him,  too, 
in  his  absence,  unsolicited,  against  the  unanimous 
advice  of  his  council,  and  to  the  exclusion  of  his 

«  Prescott,  Schiller,  etc.     Motley,  Davies,  Yaudervyuckt. 
t  Vandervynckt,  Metereu.         %  Motley,  vol.  1,  pp.  236,  237. 


174  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

laurel-crowned  band  of  heroes — Egmont,  who  was 
twelve  years  his  senior,  among  the  rest — and  found 
no  reason  to  repent  his  selection  of  the  youthful 
"tyro"  in  arms,  who  grappled  with  Guise  and 
baffled  Coligny,*  It  was  Orange  on  whose  shoul- 
der he  rested  during  the  delivery  of  his  farewell 
address.t  It  was  Orange  whom  he  despatched 
with  the  imperial  crown  to  his  brother  Ferdinand 
of  Germany.^  So  ripe  was  the  prince  in  honors 
even  while  so  young  in  years. 

The  marks  of  confidence  and  friendship  which 
the  emperor  had  showered  upon  William,  would 
alone  have  sufficed  to  bring  him  into  disrepute  with 
Philip ;  who  seems  to  have  laid  it  down  for  himself 
as  a  rule,  to  avenge  the  slights  of  the  Spanish 
grandees,  for  the  preference  which  his  father  had, 
on  all  important  occasions,  shown  to  the  Low 
Country  nobles,  by  a  similar  leaning  toward  the 
other  side.§ 

Still,  the  prince  had  not  been  inactive  since 
Philip's  coronation.  He  bore  an  important  part  in 
the  negotiations  which  resulted  in  the  pacification 
of  Chateau-Cambray;  and  he  was  one  of  the  hosta- 
ges left  in  the  French  king's  hands  for  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  treaty.§  It  was  during  his  residence 
at  Paris  in  this  capacity  that  he  earned  his  sur- 
name of  the  "  silent."     One  day  he  was  hunting 

■-•  Schillei-,  p.  405.     Prescott,  Hist,  of  the  Eeign  of  Philip  11. 
t  Ibid.     Lives  of  the  Princes,  etc.     Archives,  etc. 
X  Ibid.  ^  Schiller,  p.  405. 

§  Motley,  Vaudervyuckt,  Meteren,  Archives,  etc. 


EGMONT  AND  ORANGE.  175 

beside  Henry  II.  in  the  forest  of  Vincennes.  Sud- 
denly Valois  paused,  laid  his  hand  on  William's 
arm,  and  opened  to  him  a  budget  of  perfidy — 
imagining  that  Orange,  like  Alva,  was  in  the  plot. 
A  .general  extirpation  of  Protestants  was  to  be  the 
cement  of  the  pacification ;  Henry  was  to  assist 
Philip  in  strangling  heresy  in  the  Netherlands, 
Philip  was  to  aid  them  in  assassinating  the  Hugue- 
nots of  France ;  and  in  these  massacres  the  Spanish 
regiments  detailed  in  Flanders  were  to  bear  a  cen- 
tral part :  such  was  the  revelation  of  the  king. 
William  heard  him  with  horror ;  but  suffered  no 
trace  of  surprise  or  disgust  to  aj)pear  in  his  imper- 
turbable countenance,  and  they  called  him  later  the 
"  silent,"  because  he  knew  when  to  hold  his  peace 
as  well  as  when  to  speak.* 

Henry's  blunder  enabled  the  keen  prince  to 
fathom  the  muddy  policy  of  Philip,  forewarned  him, 
and  did  much  to  ripen  him  for  his  after  work ;  and 
he  it  was  who  had  evoked  and  organized  the  pro- 
test against  the  continuance  of  the  Spanish  troops 
on  Netherland  soil.f 

The  prince  of  Orange  was  at  this  time  but  twen- 
ty-six, though  he  had  been  married  and  was  now  a 
widower.^  Like  Egmont,  he  was  a  tall  and  stately 
man.  His  features  were  dark,  well  chiselled,  and 
symmetrical ;  his  head  was  well  turned  and  finely 
placed  upon  his  shoulders;  his  forehead  was  lofty, 
spacious,  and  already  prematurely  engraved  with 

*  Metei'eu,  Vandervynckt,  Motley.  I  Ibid, 

t  Lives  of  the  Princes,  etc. 


176  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

the  lines  of  anxious  tliouglit;  his  eyes  were  brown, 
full,  well  opened,  and  expressive  of  profound  reflec- 
tion.* 

His  courtly  bearing  and  cliarm  of  manner  fasci- 
nated all  who  came  within  the  sphere  of  his  influ- 
ence.! Graceful,  familiar,  caressing,  yet  dignified, 
Orange  was  king  of  hearts.:}:  "  Never  did  an  arro- 
gant or  indiscreet  word  fall  from  his  lips,"  remarks 
a  chronicler  who  was  his  bitter  foe ;  "  nor  did  he 
upon  any  occasion  manifest  auger  to  his  inferiors, 
however  much  the}'^  might  be  in  fault,  but  con- 
tented himself  with  admonishing  them  graciously, 
without  menace  or  insult.  For  he  had  a  gentle  and 
agreeable  tongue  with  which  he  could  turn  all  the 
gentlemen  at  court  which  way  he  liked."§ 

In  some  respects  his  sobriquet  was  a  misnomer, 
for  Motley  tells  us,  what  others  have  avouched,  and 
what  William's  life  proves,  that  "he  was  neither 
'silent'  nor  'taciturn'  from  habit;  though  these  are 
the  epithets  which  will  be  for  ever  associated  with 
the  name  of  a  man,  who,  in  private,  was  the  most 
affable,  cheerful,  and  delightful  of  companions,  and 
who  on  a  thousand  public  occasions  was  to  prove 
himself,  both  by  pen  and  by  speech,  to  be  the  most 
eloquent  man  of  the  age."|| 

He  was  ambitious,  not  with  the  vulgar  pur- 
pose of  self-aggrandizement,  but  to  enrol  himself 

*  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  106. 

t  Ibid.,  p.  24(!.     Scliiller,  Stracla.  \  Ibid. 

§  Poutus  Payeu,  MS.,  cited  iu  Motley,  ut  antca. 

II  Motley,  ut  antea. 


EGMONT  AND  ORANGE.  177 

among   the   builders   of   states   by   liberating   his 
country. 

No  one  was  ever  more  perfectly  equijiped  to 
organize  a  revolution.  Imperturbable,  cautious  yet 
decisive  and  irresistible,  master  of  men,  coolest 
and  firmest  in  disaster,  sound  and  commandincf  in 
body  as  in  mind,  sitting  apart,  as  the  heathen  dei- 
ties talked  from  peak  to  peak  all  round  Olympus, 
yet^easy  himself  and  xible  to  make  others  share  his 
ease — persistent,  kind,  forbearing — Orange  was  all 
this,  and  more,  even  from  the  outset.  In  the  Neth- 
erlands he  had  no  mate  in  genius — was,  like  most 
great  men,  a  unique.  "  The  Scipioism  of  Scipio," 
says  an  epigrammatist,  "  was  precisely  that  part  of 
him  which  he  could  not  borrow."  The  Orangeism 
of  Orange  was  exactly  that  part  of  him  which  none 
other  could  imitate.  And  though  Egmout,  his  friend 
and  compeer,  was  fully  his  equal  as  a  soldier,  as  a 
statesman  he  was  not  worthy  to  unloose  the  latchet 
of  his  shoes. 

Such  was  the  duchess  of  Lorraine,  such  was 
Count  Egmont,  such  was  the  prince  of  Orange, 
when,  in  the  spring  of  1559,  they  competed  with 
each  other  for  the  governor-generalship  of  the  Neth- 
erlands. They  were  none  of  them  to  be  successful. 
Philip  had  an  instinctive  dread  of  Orange.  These 
two  men,  so  unlike  in  most  respects,  had  two  points 
of  contact.  Both  were  gifted  with  intuition;  and 
the  king  saw  deeply  enough  into  the  character  of 
the  prince  to  know  that,  while  he  possessed  the 
qualities  as  a  politician  which  he  highly  prized,  he 
8* 


178  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

yet  bottomed  Lis  statesmanship  upon  a  theory  wliicli 
was  fatal  to  absohitism — human  rights ;  and  was 
therefore  necessarily  his  foeman.  Then,  too,  both 
had  sat  at  the  feet  of  the  same  master,  only  Philip 
had  learned  by  rote  and  was  an  imitator ;  William. 
had  looked  deep,  and  completely  mastered  the  per- 
ilous arts  by  which  thrones  then  rose  and  fell ;  and 
the  king  had  an  especial  dread  of  him  because  he 
was  aware  that  in  him  he  had  an  antagonist  who 
was  armed  against  his  policy  by  forecast,  and  who 
in  a  great  cause,  was  able  to  command  the  science 
and  resources  of  a  bad  one.* 

Add  to  this  instinctive  hatred  William's  popu- 
larity and  wealth;  and  we  shall  see  that,  notwith- 
standing the  deep  sea  and  fair  wind  on  which  he 
sailed,  in  Strada's  figure,  the  bark  of  his  chances 
was  sure  io  founder.t 

As  for  Egmont,  his  family  had  been,  in  times 
past,  the  bitter  and  successful  foes  of  the  house  of 
Austria.  He  was  a  soldier ;  he  Avas  the  popular 
idol.  "  If  I  intrust  the  supreme  stadtholdership  to 
him,"  thought  Philip,  "he  may  endeavor  to  revenge 
the  oppression  of  his  ancestors  on  the  son  of  the 
oppressor  ;  nay,  but  I'll  none  of  him.":j: 

Thus  it  was  that  what  seemed  the  clearest  titles 
of  Egmont  and  Orange  to  the  succession,  were 
really  fatal  to  their  success ;  while  the  king  was 
supplied  Avith  an  excellent  pretext  for  passing  both 
by  on  the  ground  that  where  merit  was  so  equal  it 
was  impossible  to  decide. 

■"■  Schiller,  p.  407.        f  Strada,  p.  19.         *  Schiller,  p.  100. 


EGMONT  AND  OEANGE/  179 

"William's  sagacity  speedily  convinced  liini  of 
the  hopelessness  of  his  success ;  and,  therefore,  he 
shrewdly  withdrew  his  claims  and  pressed  those  of 
the  duchess  of  Lorraine,  to  whose  daughter  he 
was  paying  suit,  "  with  the  intention,"  if  we  may 
credit  Strada,  "of  giving  his  proposed  mother-in- 
law  the  title,  and  taking  to  himself  the  power."* 

The  advocacy  of  Orange  ruined  the  prospects  of 
Christierne,  for  Philip  made  a  point  of  always  run- 
ning against  the  current  of  the  prince's  will;  and 
one  morning  Brussels  was  astonished  to  hear  that 
Margaret  of  Parma  had  been  appointed  governant, 
and  had  already  quitted  Italy  to  take  her  seat. 
Philip  the  Taciturn  had  for  once  outmanoeuvred 
William  the  Silent.  The  prince  was  soon  to  return 
the  compliment. 

*  Strada,  ut  antea. 


180  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

CHAPTEE   XII. 

A   CHECK. 

While  Orange  and  Egmout  were  digesting  the 
disappointment  of  their  hopes,  dashed  by  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  new  governant's  name,  and  Avhile 
the  burghers  were  still  sulking  over  the  rebuff  of  the 
national  favorites,  Philip,  trailing  after  him  a  glit- 
tering cortege,  sped  towards  the  Netherland  fron- 
tier to  welcome  Margaret  of  Parma.*  It  was  in  1559, 
in  the  early  days  of  June,  pregnant  with  summer, 
that  he  met  her,  and,  accompanying  her  to  Brussels, 
inducted  her  into  office,  with  a  pomp  which  recalled 
the  days  of  the  abdication. t 

Margaret's  story  was  a  romance.  The  natural 
daughter  of  Charles  Y.  by  a  Flemish  orphan  of 
gentle  blood,  named  Yan  Glieest,  and  born  in  1522, 
she  had  been  acknowledged  by  the  emperor,  and 
educated  as  became  a  princess. :j:  For  a  time  she 
was  the  ward  of  the  emperor's  aunt,  then  regent 
of  the  Netherlands ;  but  the  little  waif  was  only  in 
her  eighth  year  when  this  lady  died;  whereupon  the 
guardianship  devolved  upcn  her  successor,  Queen 
Mary  of  Hungary.§ 

According  to  the  custom  of  that  age,  when  hearts 

were  the  chattels  of  princes,  and  when  marriage 

o  Strada,  p.  24.     Meteren,  Vandervynckt.  f  Ibid. " 

J  Strada,  p.  20.     Prescott,  Levensbusch,  Nederl.  Man.  enVrou- 
men.  §  Ibid.     Brantome. 


A  CHECK.  181 

was  a  mere  counter  in  dii^lomatic  games,  this  child 
was  wedded  at  twelve  to  the  p«.s6'e'  duke  of  Tuscany, 
Alexander  de'  Medici.*  A  dozen  months  elapsed,  and 
this  profligate  was  assassinated  by  a  kinsman  in  the 
streets  of  Florence.t  A  widow  at  thirteen,  the  girl 
was  once  more  in  the  matrimonial  market,  findinof 
many  bidders.  But  Charles  was  in  no  haste  to  find 
Margaret  another  husband,  and  it  was  not  until  she 
was  a  woman  of  twenty  that  she  was  again  mated, 
this  time  to  Ottavio  Farnese,  nephew  of  Pope  Paul 
III.,  and  a  boy  of  thirteen — thus  at  the  age  of  ma- 
turity being  married  to  a  child,  as  in  her  infancy 
she  had  been  sold  to  a  man.:}: 

To  Farnese  she  brought  the  duchies  of  Parma 
and  Piacenza  as  her  dowry  ;§  but  the  youth  of  the 
prince  inspired  her  with  such  contempt  for  him  that, 
as  Strada  remarks,  "her  indifference  was  only  soften- 
ed into  a  kindlier  feeling  when  she  had  been  long 
separated  from  him."|| 

This,  roughly  outlined,  was  the  history  of  the 
woman  whom  Phihp  had  installed  as  governant  of 
the  Low  Countries.  As  for  her  character,  she  did 
not  lack  ability ;  but  qualities  which  might  other- 
wise have  raised  her  above  mediocritj",  were  fatally 
biased  by  a  monkish  superstition  learned,  at  the 
feet  of  Ignatius  Loyola,  who  had  been  her  confes- 
sor while  she  tarried  in  Italy'F — the  chiefest  of  her 
recommendations  to  Philip. 

*  Brantome.  |  Ibid. 

J  Schiller,  p.  412.  §  Ibid.     Strada,  p.  22. 

II  Ibid.,  p.  23.  U  Ibid.     Prcscott,  Motley,  Schiller. 


182  THE  DUTCH  REFOKMATION. 

In  person,  Margaret  was  tall  and  ungainly. 
Upon  lier  upper  lip  a  mustache  liad  sprouted." 
"  Her  gait  itself  was  so  devoid  of  grace,"  as  Schiller 
paints  her,  "  that  one  was  far  more  tempted  to  take 
her  for  a  disguised  man  than  for  a  mascuhue  wom- 
an ;  and  nature,  whom  she  had  derided  b}^  thus 
transgressing  the  limits  of  her  sex,  revenged  itself 
upon  her  by  a  disease  peculiar  to  men — the  gout/'f 
Spite  of  the  surprise  it  caused,  the  appointment  of 
this  odd  woman  to  the  regency  was  dictated  by 
profound  policy,  and  was,  as  rumor  had  it,  the 
result  of  Alva's  counsel  and  the  bishop  of  Arras' 
advice4  Tor,  while  certain  to  be  the  puppet  of  the 
king,  Margaret  had  four  excellent  recommenda- 
tions :  she  was  earnest  for  the  faith ;  she  was  Phil- 
ip's sister  ;  she  was  a  Netherlander  by  birth ;  she  had 
spent  her  youth  in  Brussels,  where  she  had  acquired 
a  knowledge  of  the  national  manners,  while  the 
duchess  Margaret  and  Queen  Mary  of  Hungary, 
the  two  regents  under  whose  eyes  she  had  grown 
up,  had  gradually  initiated  her  into  the  maxims  by 
which  they  had  governed  in  the  past.§  It  was, 
indeed,  a  formidable  list  of  recommendatory  cir- 
cumstances, and  justified  the  choice.  "Withal," 
observes  Strada,  "  Philip  hoped  that  the  Low-Coun- 
trymen, for  the  reverence  they  bore  the  name  of 
Charles  V.,  would  cheerfully  obey  his  daughter,  born 
among  them,  and  bred  up  to  their  fashions,  and  be 
able  the  better  to  digest  her  government,  because 

o  Strada,  ui  antea.  t  Scliiller,  p.  412. 

X  Schiller,  p.  413. '  §  Ibid.,  p.  412. 


A  CHECK.  183 

subjected  people  think  themselves  partly  free  if 
ruled  by  a  native."^"  Besides,  the  Netherlands  were 
habituated  to  female  government;  and  the  king 
thought  that  the  innovations  he  had  designed  would 
be  more  popular  coming  from  a  lady — like  an  incis- 
ion, that  pains  the  less  when  made  by  a  soft  hand.f 

With  the  prevision  of  a  despot,  Philip  seldom 
trusted  individuals — never,  unless  he  had  a  curb  in 
their  mouths.  So  now  he  put  a  double  check  upon 
his  sister  by  demanding  her  little  son,  Alexander 
Farnese — a  name  famous  in  the  Low  Countries  at 
a  later  day — as  a  hostage,  and  by  equipping  three 
chambers  to  assist  her  in  the  administration  of  the 
government.! 

The  organization  of  these  chambers  was  a  mas- 
terpiece of  political  skill.  The  idea  was  old,  it 
was  only  the  composition  that  was  unique.  There 
had  been  a  council  of  finance,  a  privy  council,  and 
a  state  council  under  the  emperor — all  composed 
of  Netherlanders.§  Now  just  so  many  citizens  were 
seated  at  these  council-boards  as  were  deemed  suf- 
ficient to  deceive  the  nation  with  a  show  of  repre- 
sentation— not  enough  to  command  a  majority  on 
any  one  important  measure,  the  decision  resting 
with  the  creatures  of  the  court. ||  The  royal  juggler 
shouted,  "  Presto,"  and  instantly  a  repubhcan  bar- 
rier was  transformed  into  the  citadel  of  despotism. 

To  the  board  of  finance  was  intrusted  whatever 

*•■'  Strada,  p.  24.  f  Ibid. 

X  Vandervynckt,  vol.  1,  p.  148.     Metereu,  Wagena3r. 

§  Hoofdt,  vol.  1.  p.  22.   Meteren,  24.     ||  Ibid.   Grattan,  pp.  84, 85. 


184  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

related  to  the  royal  exchequer  in  the  states,  and  its 
president  was  Count  Barlaiment.*  To  the  privy 
council  was  given  the  general  administration  of  jus- 
tice, and  its  president  was  Viglius.t  To  the  council 
of  state  was  referred  all  matters  of  foreign  inter- 
course, all  inter-provincial  affairs,  and  its  president 
was  the  bishop  of  Arras  ::|;  of  this  board  Orange,  and 
Egmont,  and  Horn,  and  Aerschat  were  members,§ 
sharing  in  the  responsibility  of  the  government,  but 
powerless  to  shape  its  policy.  These  three  boards 
were  quite  independent  of  each  other,  with  this  im- 
portant exception  :  while  the  members  of  the  coun- 
cil of  state  had  no  voice  in  the  other  two  chambers, 
the  privy  and  finance  councillors,  together  with  the 
knights  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  had  access  to  their 
deliberations!! — an  arrangement  which  lassoed  that 
board  to  Philip's  feet,  and  reduced  the  national 
nobles  to  titled  nullities  at  Brussels. 

But  to  make  surety  doubly  sure,  the  wily  mon- 
arch created  another  board  behind  the  government, 
back  of  the  councils,  hidden,  tireless,  omnipresent, 
all-powerful — the  Consulta.  "  It  was  a  committee  of 
three  members  of  the  state  chamber,  by  whose 
deliberations  the  regent  was  secretly  instructed  to 
be^  guided  at  all  critical  moments.  The  three, 
Barlaiment,  Yiglius,  and  Arras,  who  composed  this 
back-stair  conclave,  were  in  reality  but  one.  The 
bishop  of  Arras  was  in  all  three,  and  the  three 
together  constituted  only  the  bishop  of  Arras."! 

«-  Hoofd,  Meteren,  ub'i  siqx         \  Ibid.         J  Ibid.         §  Ibid. 
II  Schiller,  Hoofd,   Stradii.  H  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  209. 


A  CHECK.  185 

Baiiaiment  was  au  antique.  He  liad  the  uu- 
qualifying,  blind,  audacious  temper  of  the  darkest 
ages.  He  had  been  dug  up  from  the  crusades.  The 
simple  lesson  which  his  life  was  devoted  to  learning 
and  teaching  was,  submission  to  superiors,  subor- 
dination of  inferiors.  He  had  no  brains — he  had 
scraped  his  skull  clean  on  entering  Philip's  service, 
and  he  stood  asking,  not.  Is  this  right  ?  but.  What 
shall  I  do  ?  In  war  he  was  a  soldier  ;  in  politics  he 
was  an  ultra  absolutist;  in  religion  he  was  a  fanatic* 
Barlaiment  was  just  honest  enough  to  be  a  tool; 
just  wise  enough  to  be  an  ultramontauist ;  just  reli- 
gious enough  to  be  a  bigot.  Philip  treated  him  as 
a  human  bull-dog;  Ai'ras  subdued  him  to  be  his 
lackey. 

Viglius  was  a  pedant,  but  de  did  not  lack  talent. 
Unlike  Barliament,  he  was  of  "  boor's  degree,"t  but 
a  round  of  studies  at  the  Lorraine,  Padua,  and 
Paris  schools  had  kindled  ambition  in  his  heart, 
and  set  him  scheming,  until  now  in  the  autumn  of 
his  life,  he  had  acquired  fame,  and  wealth,  and  influ- 
ence.:!: Infirm  and  overtasked,  he  still  held  on  to 
power  and  was  singularly  patient  of  work.  Ambi- 
tion has  been  defined  to  be  satiety  ivith  desire. 
Perhaps  it  was  this  which  held  Viglius  still  feeding 
at  the  public  trough. 

A  small,  brisk  man,  round,  timid,  sleek,  with 
rosy  cheeks,  glittering  green  eyes,  and  a  flowing 
beard,§  Viglius  was  a  jurist  of  extensive  erudition; 

*  Hoofd,  Mcteren,  Lcveusbusch. 

f  Levensbusch,  vol.  4,  p,  75.     |  Ibid.     §  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  101. 


186  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

a  monarchist  by  instinct,  a  papist  from  policy ;  able 
to  quibble  "svitli  any  one ;  adroit  enougli  to  baffle 
most  antagonists ;  plausible  enough  to  cheat  the 
majority  of  hearers ;  eloquent  enough  to  hide  the 
intentions  of  the  court  beneath  a  fluent  stream  of 
common  places ;  and  unscrupulous  enough  to  balk 
at  nothing.*  Politics  is  the  hospital  for  broken 
scoundrels  ;  and  this  Bohemian,  this  political  bri- 
gand under  the  mask  of  a  legal  doctorate,  had 
drifted  into  it  to  end  his  days. 

But  the  bishop  of  Arras  was  the  soul  of  the 
trio,  as  he  was  the  Mephistophiles  of  the  tragedy 
whose  prelude  these  days  were. 

Anthony  Perrenot  of  Granvelle,  bishop  of  Arras, 
was  born  in  1517,  at  Besan^on,  in  Burgundy.t  His 
father  had  risen,  step  by  step,  from  the  condition  of 
an  humble  country  attorney  to  the  chancellorship 
of  the  empire  under  Charles  V.J  The  secret  of  this 
marvellous  career  was  hidden  in  two  words — syco- 
phancy and  industry.  By  the  one  he  gained  the 
heart  of  Caesar  ;  by  the  other  he  mastered  the  sci- . 
ence  of  government,  and  deserved  confidence. 

In  1517,  the  elder  Perrenot  was  the  emperor's 
favorite  minister,  successful,  honored,  courted.  Thus 
he  was  able  to  secure  for  his  son  Anthony  a  sunny 
opening  to  his  career.  The  boy  was  precocious.  He 
learned  as  others  play.  At  twenty  he  had  mastered 
the  civil  and  the  canon  law,  and  spoke  seven  lan- 

*  Prescott,  Meteren,  Motley. 

t  Levensbusch,  Strada,  Motley. 

%  Prescott,  vol.  1,  p.  405.     Metereu,  Levensbuscli. 


A  CHECK.  187 

guages  without  halting.*  Three  years  later  he  was 
chosen  a  canon  of  the  Liege  cathedral,  through  whose 
massive  door  he  entered,  though  under  age,  the  rich 
see  of  Arras.t  In  1543,  the  youthful  bishop,  commis- 
sioned as  plenipotentiary,  entered  the  council  of 
Trent,  where  his  dulcet  eloquence  so  captivated 
Charles  that  the  dazzled  emperor  created  him  a 
councillor  of  state.:]: 

From  that  time  his  rise  was  rapid.  With  con- 
summate art  he  insinuated  himself  into  the  con- 
fidence of  Csesar,  remembering  the  secret  of  his 
father's  success— ^sycophancy  in  winning,  industry 
in  preserving  confidence. 

At  the  abdication,  Charles  recommended  this 
crafty,  pr^voyant  chancellor  to  Philip's  confidence,! 
bidding  him  rely  upon  an  intellect  which  had  lifted 
him  out  of  many  a  "  slough  of  despond,"  caged 
for  him  numberless  birds,  sung  for  him  count- 
less syren  songs.  Such  a  recommendation  would 
have  been  as  useless  in  his  case  as  in  that  of 
Orange,  had  not  the  keen  priest  known  how  to  rec- 
ommend himself.  He  vanquished  Philip's  doubt  of 
him  by  one  master-stroke.  It  was  he  who  put  into  the 
treaty  of  Chateau-Cambray  the  secret  clause  which 
was  to  cement  peace  in  the  blood  of  Protestantism, 
and  which  Orange  so  strangely  discovered  in  the 
Vincennes  wood.ll  This  rascality  was  exactly  in  the 
vein  of  the  gloomy  bigot  whom  the  facile  chancel- 

*  Prescott,  Meteren,  Levensbuscb,  Motley.  j-  Ibid, 

t  Ibid.,  Schiller.  §  Ibid. 

II  Prescott,  Motley,  Schiller. 


188  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION, 

lor  termed  "  the  master."  Henceforth,  two  such 
men  were  needful  to  each  other. 

This  all-powerful  prelate  had  the  subtlest  of  in- 
tellects; he  had  also  profound  and  varied  learning.* 
To  talent  of  a  high  order  he  wedded  patience — a 
rare  union.  He  was,  too,  a  man  of  thoughtful,  me- 
chanical regularity.  Always  vigilant,  always  col- 
lected, nothing  escaped  him;  and  he  -weighed  the 
most  important  and  the  most  insignificant  affairs 
with  the  same  scrupulous  attention. f 

In  a  combat  oifinesse,  a  duel  of  intrigue,  no  one 
could  outwit  him.  Cool,  wary,  imperturbable,  hiding- 
all  concern  under  an  easy  noncJialance,  masking  inor- 
dinate ambition  under  an  insouciance  wdiich  never 
disclosed  a  feature  of  the  real  Perrenot,  he  walked 
calmly  on — this  serene,  smiling  priest — and  with 
paternal  benignity  did  Satan's  work. 

Arras  was  diplomacy  personified:  he  had  that 
fine  quality  which  is  colorless  because  inscrutable, 
and  irresistible  because  far-seeing — acumen:  acu- 
men, which  crowns  genius  and  dethrones  kings. 
And  this  silkiest,  most  dulcet  of  churchmen  aimed 
at  ubiquity,  withal.  Monsignore  had  his  politic 
webs  spun  over  Italy,  over  France,  over  Austria, 
over  England,  over  Spain.  Monsignore  had  his 
secret  spies  of  the  ablest.  Monsignore  was  the 
lover  of  great  ladies  who  played  Iscariot  for  him  in 
palaces.  Monsignore  never  gave  a  Benedicife  with- 
out some  diplomatic  touch.  Monsignore  never  ad- 
ministered the  Viaiicum  that  the   church  was  not 

*  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  248.  t  Schiller,  p.  121. 


A  CHECK.  189 

the  richer  for  a  legacy.  Monsiguore  never  yet  was 
compromised  by  a  lie,  and  never  yet  was  driven  to 
the  vulgarity  of  a  truth. 

But  what  would  30U  have?  Even  Achilles  could 
be  shot  in  the  heel;  and  Monsignore  himself  had 
his  weaknesses.  One  of  them  was,  that  he  disbe- 
lieved in  any  virtue  that  was  proof  against  a  bribe, 
or  capable  of  preferring  a  creed  to  a  sovereignty. 
He  could  not  credit  it,  that  any  one  should  be  so 
mad  as  not  to  exchange,  if  it  were  made  worth  his 
while,  the  Phrygian  bonnet  for  a  coronet.  Another 
was,  that,  educated  between  the  throne  and  the 
confessional,  he  knew  of  no  other  relation  between 
man  and  man  than  that  of  rule  and  subjection.- 
This  idea  was  the  rock  on  which  his  bark  was  to 
be  wrecked ;  for,  in  the  Netherlands,  half  republican 
and  two-thirds  Protestant,  the  statesmanship  which 
bottomed  itself  on  absolutism,  however  adroit,  was 
certain  to  be  suicidal.  The  prescient  wit,'  the  ex- 
haustless  capacity  which  would  have  lifted  this  man 
into  a  statesman  at  Home  or  in  Spain,  dwindled 
him  into  a  mere  politician  at  Brussels ;  for  his 
rationale  did  not  suit  that  atmosphere.  He  could 
weary  half  a  dozen  amanuenses  at  a  sitting,  but  he 
could  not  tire  out  a  people  determined  to  be  free. 

So  much  shall  suffice  to  depict  the  government, 
and  so  much  to  paint  the  persons  who  composed 
it,  in  that  smiling  June  when  Margaret  of  Parma 
entered  Brussels.  The  initial  ceremonies  of  the  gov- 
ernant's  reception  once  over,  Philip  pressed  on  to 
♦  Schiller. 


190  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

anotber  arrangement.  Some  of  the  provinces  were 
supplied  with  new  executives  ;  others  had  those 
local  rulers  whose  credentials  bore  the  imperial 
seal,  confirmed.*  In  this  distribution  of  ofiices,  the 
prince  of  Orange  was  accredited  as  stadtholder  of 
Holland,  Zealand,  Utrecht,  and  West  Friesland.t 
To  Egmont  were  awarded  Flanders  and  Artois.:|: 
And  among  others  of  the  national  grandees,  Arem- 
berg,  Bergen,  Barliament,  the  remainder  of  the 
states  were  parcelled  out;§  but  Brabant  was  re- 
served to  the  regent,  who  was  there  executive  ex 
offido.\ 

This  done,  nothing  remained  but  to  say  fare- 
well— for  on  several  recent  occasions  the  king  had 
exerted  the  whole  weight  of  his  personal  influence 
to  impress  upon  the  country  the  paramount  impor- 
tance of  the  edicts  against  heresy ;  and  once  he  had 
stammered  out  an  address  to  the  grand  council  at 
Mechlin,  with  his  own  lips  emphasizing  his  demand 
for  Protestant  blood.  If 

On  the  7tli  of  August,  1559,  an  assembly  of  the 
states  was  convoked  at  Ghent.**  The  court  was  gay 
and  giddy  with  triumph.  Diplomats  smiled  pla- 
cidly. The  bishop  of  Arras  was  as  serene  as  the 
summer  sky  above  him.     Even  Philip  lost  a  little 

•"'  Vandervynckt,  Meteren.         j  Ibid.         J  Ibid.         §  Ibid. 

II  Ibid.  IT  Metereu,  Ivucb,  Hopperus,  Hoynckt. 

.  «"'  To  give  edal  to  his  presence  in  Ghent,  a  chapter  of  the  Golden 
Fleece  was  held  just  before  the  convocation  of  the  states-general, 
and  fourteen  knights  were  admitted  to  the  order.  This  chapter 
was  the  last  ever  held.  After  this  date,  knights  were  preferred  <o 
the  honor  of  the  Fleece  by  the  king's  nomination.  Vandervynckt, 
Troubles  des  Pays-Bas,  torn.  2,  p.  21. 


A  CHECK.  191 

of  his  Jiciideur.  On  the  eve  of  the  convention  all 
whirled  in  a  thoughtless  glitter.  There  were  wines 
of  the  rarest.  There  were  feastings  of  the  daintiest. 
Turkish  and  Levantine  fruits  imported  by  the  Ant- 
werp merchants,  with  crystallized  confections  in  sil- 
ver baskets,  which  dainty  statuettes  of  Odalisque 
slaves  and  Greek  girls  held  up  in  a  shower  of  flow- 
ers. Every  palace  was  transformed  into  a  chamber 
of  revelry,  and  in  the  perfume  and  the  lustre  human 
rights  were  mocked  at,  and  heresy  was  impaled  on 
dainty  skewers,  with  a  light  laugh,  amid  the  whirl 
of  the  dance  and  the  glitter  of  gold  and  azure,  of 
silver  and  scarlet,  while  the  air  was  drowsy  with  the 
odor  of  wines,  and  spices,  and  incense. 

While  the  orgy  was  at  its  maddest,  a  stately  but 
haggard  man  might"  have  been  seen  to  quit  the  sup- 
per-room and  wend  his  way  with  quick,  firm  step 
past  the  stadthouse,  past  the  tower  where  Boland 
had  swung,  on  through  the  quaint,  crooked  streets, 
towards  the  quarters  of  the  town  where  the  depu- 
ties found  shelter.  It  was  William  of  Orange  going 
at  midnight  to  warn  the  delegates  of  the  lurking 
danger,  and  to  suggest  a  plan  of  action  for  the  mor- 
row.* How  well  his  warning  was  heeded  we  shall  see. 

In  the  morning  the  states  assembled.  Here 
the  king,  the  governant,  Philibert  of  Savoy,  and  the 
courtiers,  still  drowsy  with  the  night's  excess ;  yon- 
der in  the  body  of  the  hall  the  deputies,  cool,  col- 
lected, determined.  For  the  sturdy  burghers  took 
their   seats  in  no    friendly  mood.     For   once,  as- 

^  Gnxttau,  p.  85.     Archives  of  the  House  of  Orange — Nassau. 


192  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

tonislied   absolutism  was  to   listen   to   republican 
truth.* 

With  a  benignant  sroile,  the  bishop  of  Arras 
stepped  forward  to  harangue  the  states  as  the  mouth- 
piece of  the  king.  Very  smoothly,  very  plausibly  , 
he  spoke,  skipping,  like  a  chamois,  from  topic  to 
topic,  touching  lightly  on  obnoxious,  dwelling 
largely  upon  popular  subjects ;  insinuating,  elab- 
orating, always  with  a  glacial  smile  upon  his  face, 
and  with  roguery  at  his  heart.  Not  a  word  did  he 
say  about  the  Spanish  troops  ;  his  only  reference  to 
the  disordered  state  of  ■  the  public  finances  was 
when,  in  calling  attention  to  his  majesty's  "request," 
he  asked  the  deputies  to  vote  him  an  additional 
sum  of  three  millions  of  gold  florins  ;t  but  his  allu- 
sion to  reform  was  pregnant.  "  These  beggars  and 
vagabonds,"  smiled  the  suave  orator,  "  who,  under 
cover  of  religion,  traverse  the  land  for  purposes  of 
plunder  and  disturbance — as  it  regards  them,  his 
majesty  desires  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  his 
august  father.  Therefore  he  has  commanded  the 
regent,  Margaret  of  Parma,  for  the  sake  of  religion 
and  the  glory  of  God,  accurately  and  exactly  to  en- 
force the  edicts  made  by  his  imperial  majesty  and 
renewed  by  his  present  majesty,  for  the  extirpation 
of  all  sects  and  heresies.":|: 

The  complacent  rhetorician  sat  down  ;  the  dep- 
uties, according  to  an  ancient  custom,  adjourned  to 

<'•  Prescott,  Schiller. 

f  Documentos  Inedits,  vol.  1,  p.  326,  et  seq.     VaiulcrvyucLt;. 

t  Bor.,  vol.  1,  p.  19,  et  seq. 


A  CHECK.  193 

deliberate,*  and  the  court  awoke  out  of  its  dog-nap 
to  dine.  Philip,  however,  occupied  himself  in  pen- 
ning a  last  exhortation  to  the  Mechlin  council,  the 
supreme  court  of  the  Low  Countries,  in  wliicli 
appendix  to  his  recent  speech  he  commanded  them 
anew  to  be  diligent  above  all  things  in  "  inquiring 
on  all  sides  as  to  the  execution  of  the  placards, 
employing  the  utmost  rigor  not  alone  against  trans- 
gressors, but  equally  against  such  judges  as  should 
dare  to  prove  remiss  in  their  prosecution  of  here- 
tics, without  respect  of  persons."t  Some  thought 
that  the  placards  were  fulminated  against  Anabap- 
tists alone.  The  wily  fanatic  corrected  the  error. 
"  All  who  reject  Home  are  heretics,"  said  he  ;  "  en- 
force the  edicts  against  all  sectaries,  without  any 
distinction  or  mercy,  if  they  be  merely  spotted  with 
Luther's  errors.":!:     This  was  Philip's  dinner. 

On  the  morning  of  tlie  eighth  of  August  the 
states  again  convened.  They  had  voted  their  con- 
tingents to  the  "request;"  but  made  the  removal  of 
the  Spanish  squadrons  a  condition  precedent  to  the 
payment  of  their  respective  quotas.§ 

"Sire,"  demanded  the  blunt  syndic  of  Ghent, 
addressing  Philip  in  person,  "why  are  foreign  hands 
needed  for  our  defence  ?  Is  it  that  the  world  shall 
consider  us  too  stupid  or  too  cowardly  to  protect 
ourselves?  Why  have  we  made  peace,  if  the  bur- 
dens of  Avar  are  still  to  oppress  us  ?    In  war,  ueces- 

<*  Pontns  Payen,  MS.     Beutivoglio. 

t  Cited  in  jMotlc3%*vol.  1,  p.  218.  |  Ibid. 

§  Motlej%  vol.  1,  p.  210.     Viindorvynckt. 

Diltrli  R.-l.  g 


194  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

sity  enforced  endurance ;  in  peace,  our  i^atieuce  is 
exliaiisted  by  its  burdens.  Or  shall  we  be  able  to 
restrain  these  licentious  bands,  which  your  pres- 
ence is  powerless  to  restrain?  Here  Cambray, 
there  Antwerp,  cry  for  redress.  Here  Thionville, 
there  Marienburg,  lie  waste.  Surely  you  have  not 
bestowed  upon  us  peace  that  our  cities  may  become 
deserts  ?  Perhaps  you  desire  to  guard  us  from  exte- 
rior assault  ?  'T  is  a  wise  precaution ;  but  the  report 
of  our  neighbors'  preparations  will  long  outrun  their 
hostilities.  Have  you  not  still  at  your  command 
the  same  brave  Netherlanders  to  whom  your  father 
intrusted  the  republic  in  far  mpre  troublous  times  ? 
Will  not  they  be  able  to  sustain  themselves,  when 
they  held  their  country  inviolate  for  so  many  cen- 
turies ?"* 

Each  of  these  short,  sharp  interrogatories  cut 
Philip  to  the  heart ;  as  for  the  courtiers,  they  gaped 
in  wonder.  The  pithy  sentences  of  the  burgher 
orator,  and  the  addresses  of  the  separate  states,  all 
in  the  same  strain,  were  followed  by  a  remonstrance, 
drawn  up  in  the  name  of  the  states- general,  and 
signed  by  Orange,  Egmont,  and  a  long  bead-roll  of 
patricians.f  • 

•  A  gallant  stand  was  also  made  that  day  for  lib- 
erty of  conscience.  "  Every  people,"  it  was  so  they 
argued,  "  ought  to  be  treated  according  to  their 
natural  character,  as  every  individual  should  be  in 
accordance  with  his  idiosyncrasies.    Thus  the  soutli 

*  Schiller,  pp.  401,  402.  ' 
f  Meteren,  vol.  1,  p.  21.     Eor.,  vol.  1,  p.  22. 


A  CHECK.  •  19:j 

may  be  considered  liappy  under  a  certain  degree  of 
constraint,  which  would  j)i'ess  intolerably  on  the 
north.  Different  nations  often  require  different 
laws.  What  suits  the  Spaniard  would  not  for  that 
reason  suit  the  Netherlander.  The  Inquisition  is 
ill-adapted  to  men  accustomed  from  their  cradles 
to  freedom  of  action  and  of  thought."* 

Philip  was  dumb  with  anger.  This  tone,  un- 
heard of  in  Castilian  legislative  halls,  and  new  to 
his  haughty  ears,  made  him  gas23  for  breath.  The 
shock  was  so  great  that  it  threw  down  the  barriers 
of  his  self-possession.  Rising  from  his  seat  and 
rushing  from  the  hall,  he  flung  back  this  query:  "I, 
too,  am  a  Spaniard  and  a  papist ;  must  I  therefore 
quit  the  land  and  resign  all  authority  over  it?"t 

The  assembly  adjourned  in  disorder.  The  wise- 
acres put  their  heads  together.  Philip  closeted 
himself  with  the  bishop  of  Arras.  They  decided  to 
dissemble:}: — a  policy  kindred  to  both  their  natures. 
They  were  driven  to  that  last  resource  of  baffled 
despotism,  a  compromise.  On  one  point,  however, 
the  king  was  firm.  The  religious  edicts  must  remain 
intact.§  "  It  may  lose  you  the  provinces,  sire," 
said  the  minister.  "Well,  then,"  responded  the 
inexorable  bigot,  "better  not  reign  at  all  than  reign 
over  heretics."!! 

A  few  days  later,  the  king,  who  would  not  again 
face  the  deputies,  sent  to  the  assembly  a  response 
to   their   remonstrance  —  a  wily,  i:)lausible    paper, 

*  Schiller,  Prescott.  f  Wagena^r,  Vaclerl.  Hist. ,  vol.  6. 

X  Ibid.    j\[otley.     §  Ibid.     ||  VaiideiTynckt,  Schiller,  Wageuaer. 


196  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

which  bore  the  imprint  of  Arras'  brains.  It  was  to 
this  effect :  "  I  desire  not  to  place  strangers  in  the 
government — as  witness  my  selection  of  Margaret, 
your  countrywoman,  as  governant.  I  regret  not 
having  learned  your  wishes  sooner  touching  the  re- 
moval of  the  troops.  Their  pay  is  in  arrears,  and 
I  cannot  order  them  away  unpaid.  Immediately 
on  reaching  Spain  I  will  forward  the  moneys  owed 
them,  and  within  three  months  you  shall  be  quit  of 
their  presence.  Meantime,  Orange  and  Egmont 
shall  command  them."* 

Philip  II.  was  a  lie  with  a  moral  at  the  bottom 
of  it.  The  moral  was  this :  Trust  him  least  when 
he  promises  most.  Now,  the  king's  three  months 
stretched  into  eighteen  ;  and  at  last  the  Spanish 
regiments  were  withdrawn,  "rather  hastily  than  wil- 
lingly," because  further  delay  meant  insurrection, 
and  because  the  exigencies  of  the  state  called  for 
their  presence  in  another  quarter  of  the  globe.t 

But  this  was  in  the  future  when  the  king  sent 
this  word  to  the  states,  and  the  deputies  were  fain 
to  be  content.:];  With  an  undisturbed  mien,  but  with 
the  anger  of  humiliation  gnawing  at  his  heart, 
Philip  now  set  out  for  the  Netherland  seaport  of 
Plashing,  whence  he  was  to  embark  for  Spain.§  He 
was  accompanied  by  a  throng  of  nobles,  William  of 
Orange  among  the  rest.  The  irate  despot  suspected 
that  it  was  the  prince's  hand  that  had  upset  his 

"  Resi^onse  du  Eoy  a  la  Eemoustrauce,  cited  iu  Documents 
Inedits,  vol.  1,  pp.  326-329.  t  Schiller. 

X  Meteren,  Suriano,  Relatione  MS.         §  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  219. 


A  CHECK.  197 

schemes  and  given  this  check  to  his  tjrannj.  Just 
as  he  was  about  to  quit  the  seashore  for  his  fleet, 
he  gave  voice  to  this  suspicion.  Turning  abruptly 
upon  Orange,  who  stood  close  beside  him,  he 
bluntly  accused  him  of  having  engineered  the  op- 
position which  had  partly  wrecked  his  polic}', 
"  Sire,"  rejoined  the  imperturbable  prince,  "  that  is 
to  be  regarded  not  as  the  work  of  any  individual, 
but  as  the  act  of  the  states."  "  No,"  hissed  Philip, 
shaking  his  antagonist  fiercely  by  the  wrist,  "  No 
los  Estados,  mas  vos,  vos,  vos" — not  the  states,  but 
you,  you,  you  ! ""^ 

AVilliam  was  silent,  and  by  his  silence  he  admit- 
ted the  glorious  accusation — admitted  that  he  had 
earned  his  title  to  the  hatred  of  the  king,  and  the 
gratitude  of  his  country.f 

The  royal  fleet  at  once  set  sail,  Philip  left  the 
Netherlands  never  to  see  them  more ;  left  them 
agonizing  to  reach  Spain,  in  which,  so  he  was  told, 
the  Reformation  had  ventured  to  raise  its  voice.} 
A  widower  for  the  second  time  by  the  death  of 
Mary  Tudor  in  1558,  he  was  to  celebrate  his  mar- 
riage with  the  beautiful  Isabella  de  Yalois,  "  dis- 
creet, witty,  and  good,"  as  Brantome  paints  her,§  on 
reaching  Toledo.il 

After  a  stormy  voyage,  he  landed  at  Laredo  in 

■'••  ' '  Vos "  is  an  epithet  of  contempt  in  the  Castilian,  equivalent 
to  "toi"  in  French.  This  anecdote  rests  on  the  atithority  of 
Aubery,  -whom  Vallaire  terms  a  "well-informed  writer."  See  Me- 
moires  de  1' Aubery  du  Maurier,  p.  9.  f  Grattan,  p.  88. 

t  Prescott,  Hist.  Reign  of  Philip  II.,  vol.  1.,  chap.  3,  passim. 

\.  Brantome,  CEuvrcs,  torn.  5,  p  126.  (]  Prescott. 


198  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

the  early  days  of  September,  and  found  an  auto  da 
/e  awaiting  him.  Eeport  had  spoken  truth.  Spain 
itself,  where  Komanism  was  at  once  a  principle  of 
honor  and  a  part  of  the  national  history,  where  for 
eight  centuries  the  Spaniard  had  been  fighting  the 
battles  of  the  church  at  home  ;  where  every  inch  of 
the  soil  was  won  by  arms  from  the  infidel;  where 
life  had  always  been  a  crusade  for  Eome ;  Spain 
was  infected  with  the  distemper  of  heresy.'^  Philip 
was  half  crazed.  The  Inquisition  was  invoked. 
Human  bonfires  blazed  merrily.  At  Yalladolid  the 
king  paused  to  witness  one.  "  Sire,"  cried  one 
of  the  sufferers,  young  Carlos  de  Lessa,  a  noble  of 
talent  and  distinction,  "  how  can  you  look  on  and 
permit  me  to  be  burned?"  "I  would  carry  the 
wood  to  burn  my  own  son  withal,  were  he  like  ^-ou, 
a  heretic,"  rejoined  the  royal  brute.t 

On  reaching  Seville,  Philip  had  the  happiness 
to  witness  another  auto  da  fe  of  fifty  living  heretics. 
This  scene  so  refreshed  him  in  body  and  in  soul, 
that  immediately  afterwards  he  solemnized  his  mar- 
riage. "  These  human  victims,  chained  and  burn- 
ing at  the  stake,  were  the  blazing  torches  which 
lighted  the  monarch  to  his  nuptial  couch.":]: 

*  Prescott,  ut  antea.     Hist.  Crit.  de  I'lnqui.,  vol.  2,  chap.  18. 
t  Cabrera,  vol.  5,  p.  236.  |  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  223. 


UNDEECURKENTS.  199 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

UNDERCUEKENTS. 

To  a  casual  observer,  unfamiliar  with  the  causes 
and  effects  of  histor}^  it  would  have  seemed  that 
the  Netherlands  were  never  more  prosperous,  never 
more  snugly  well-to-do,  than  on  that  day  when 
Philip  II.  weighed  anchor  for  Castile.  The  states 
were  lapped  in  a  luxury  that  recalled  the  Sybarites. 
"Not  the  most  minute  strip  of  the  soil,"  says  Guic- 
ciardini,  "  was  without  its  production ;  even  the 
sand-heaps  afforded  shelter  to  vast  numbers  of 
rabbits,  esteemed  for  their  delicate  flavor ;  and  on 
every  creek  of  the  sea  were  to  be  found  incredible 
flocks  of  water-fowl  and  their  eggs,  both  of  which 
formed  a  reliable  article  of  export."*  It  was  indeed 
so  :  the  shrewd  Italian  painted  to  the  life. 

Off  the  coasts  of  Holland,  Zealand,  and  Fries- 
laud,  two  thousand  boats  found  daily  employment 
in  the  fisheries. t  Flanders  freighted  fifty  ships  in 
a  single  year  with  household  furniture  and  utensils 
for  Spain  and  the  colonial  wants.:]:  A  single  city — 
Bruges — sold  annually  stuffs  of  Spanish  and  Eng- 
lish wool  to  the  amount  of  eight  millions  of  fiorins,§ 
and  the  least  value  of  the  florin  then  was  quadruple 
its  present  worth. || 

^-  Guicciardiui,  Belg.  Des.,  torn.  2,  p.  95. 

t  Velius  Hoorn,  book  2.  J  Grattan,  p.  88.  §  Ibid. 

II  Tlie  florin  was  a  coin  originally  made  in  Florence.    The  namo 


2U0  THE  DUTCH  KEFOKMATION. 

The  Englisli  commerce  of  the  provinces,  less 
important  than  that  with  Spain,  was  vakied  yearly 
at  twenty-four  millions  of  florins.*  Amsterdam  was 
a  rising  town,  but  Antwerp)  was  still  the-  pivot  of 
European  trade.t  Oftentimes  the  table  service  of 
her  wealthy  burghers  consisted  entirely  of  solid 
silver ;:{;  and  these  merchant  princes  were  the 
money-changers  of  Christendom.  Germany,  Eng- 
land, France,  Italy,  Spain,  constantly  fed  their  lean 
exchequers  from  the  fat  coffers  of  the  burghers. 
Immense  loans  were  asked  and  gotten,  not  in  ne- 
gotiable bills,  or  for  unredeemable  debentures ; 
but  in  hard  gold,  and  on  a  simple  acknowledg- 
ment.§ 

But  beneath' the  sunny  surface  of  this  material 
prosperity  crouched  death  and  chaos,  soon  to  reveal 
themselves.  The  useful  and  inoffensive  Nether- 
landers  wished  to  add  yet  one  thing  more  to  their 
immense  possessions — the  gospel.  Aghast  Home 
and  angered  despotism  leagued  to  crush  it  out. 
From  that  fanatic  effort  sprang  the  revolution. 

Many  historians  have  run  up  and  down,  groping 
for  the  causes  of  the  prodigious  convulsion  that  now 
begins  to  rumble  beneath  our  feet,  for  scenes  of 
tremendous  horror  are  just  at  hand.  It  needs  no 
long  search.     The  past  sows  the  seed,  which  the 

is  given  to  different  coins  of  gold  and  silver,  of  diflerent  value  in 
different  countries.  Tlie  silver  florin  now  varies  in  value  from 
twenty-three  to  fifty-four  cents.  The  gold  florin  of  Hanover  is 
now  held  at  Gs.  lid.  sterling. 

«  Grattan,  p.  88.     Vandervj'uckt.  f  Ibid. 

X  Velius  Hoorn,  book  2,  it.  142.  §  Grattan.  tihi  sup. 


UNDERCURRENTS.  201 

present  ripens,  and  the  future  reaps.  In  one  sense, 
it  was  the  reopened  New  Testament  which  brought 
the  sword  into  the  Netherlands ;  in  another  sense, 
it  was  an  emasculated  church,  shod  in  ambitious 
worldliness,  and  clothed  in  fanaticism,  that  lighted 
the  conflagration  ;  a  church  prohfic  as  Proteus  in 
disguises,  but,  like  him,  ever  the  same  unde"r  what- 
ever mask  it  lurked.  To  restore  to  the  provinces 
the  uniformity  of  papistry,  to  break  the  coordinate 
power  of  the  nobility  and  the  states,  and  to  exalt 
the  royal  authority  on  the  ruins  of  the  old  repub- 
lican rudiments — this  was  the  purpose  of  King 
Philip  II.*  For  that  he  plotted,  and  for  that  he 
dissembled ;  and  that  purpose  Avas  the  germ  which 
flowered  in  revolt.  Margaret  was  commissioned, 
and  so  was  the  bishop  of  Arras,  to  compass  that 
object  ;t  and  this  fact  at  once  reduced  the  so-called 
government  of  the  regent  to  a  colossal  fraud,  to  a 
chartered  hypocrisy,  to  a  conspiracy  against  justice 
and  honest  men,  to  a  junta  of  licensed  stabbers. 

The  ship  in  which  PhiliiD  sailed  for  Spain  was 
hardly  huU-down  upon  the  ocean,  before  the  gover- 
nant  and  her  crafty  Mentor  began  to  carry  out  the 
prescribed  programme  of  despotism,  heedless  of 
the  increasing  excitement  of  the  people  —  that 
"mischievous  animal"  which  the  bishop  of  Arras 
held  in  such  supreme  contempt.']: 

Before  opening  the  Medician  volume  of  govern- 
mental acts,  let  us  glance  briefly  at  the  stains  of 
the  Netherlanders  towards  the  close  of  the  year 

«  Schiller,  p.  426.      t  Ibid.      %  Papiers  cV  Etat,  vol.  7,  p.  367. 

9* 


202  THE  DUTCH  BEFOEMATION. 

1559,  and  familiarize  ourselves  with  the  mainsprings 
of  the  national  action,  with  the  affected  indifference, 
but  real  bitterness  of  the  patrician,  with  the  senti- 
ments of  the  burgher,  with  the  inspiration  of  the 
boor. 

As  for  the  aristocracy,  it  was,  like  all  others, 
rotten  to  the  core ;  indeed  it  had  sunk  lower  than 
kindred  castes  in  other  countries;  for  the  lavish 
exjDenditure,  the  eager  competition,  the  profligate 
habits  into  which  Charles  V.  had  lured  the  Low- 
land nobles,  had,  as  he  wished,  steeped  them  to  the 
lips  in  ruin,  and  left  them  bankrupt  in  character  as 
Avell  as  purse.* 

But,  though  stripped  of  their  property,  they 
retained  their  tastes,  and  hungered  morbidly  for 
the  luxuries  of  the  past.  Many  a  seedy  noble  took 
to  gambhng  as  a  panacea  for  his  ills.  The  money 
thus  gotten  was  lavished  in  riotous  debauchery : 
they  worshipped  a  carouse,  and  a  banquet  was  their 
god.  Those  patricians  Avho  still  retained  their 
estates  were  doing  their,  utmost  to  waste  them  in 
lavish  display.  "  They  spent  twice  as  much  as  they 
were  worth,"  remarks  a  contemporaneous  critic, 
"  on  their  palaces,  furniture,  troops  of  retainers, 
costly  liveries,  and  sumptuous  entertainments."t 
And  another  observer  says,  "  Instead  of  one  court 
at  Brussels,  you  would  have  said  that  there  were 
fifty."t 

*  Pontus  TayeD,  MS. 

f  Albertos  de  Flandes,  MS.,  cited  in  Prescott,  vol.  1,  p.  477. 

X  Pootiis  Pay  en,  MS. 


TJNDEECUEEENTS.  203 

As  the  nobles  grew  poorer,  their  orgies  waxed 
madder.  "Dum  vivimus,  vivamus''''  was  the  motto 
of  every  bacchanal.  Drunkenness  was  a  wide- 
spread vice.  "When  a  Flemish  gentleman  finds 
himself  sober,  he  thinks  that  he  is  ill,"  sneered  the 
bitter  Badovaro,"  one  of  those  keen  Italians,  half 
spy,  half  ambassador,  whom  the  Venetian  doges 
kept  at  the  different  European  courts,  that  they 
might  acquaint  themselves  Avitli  the  most  intricate 
phases  of  the  social  and  political  life  of  Christen- 
dom. The  English  Camden  phrased  it  more  naively 
when  he  said  that,  "  in  drinking  others'  health  they 
impaired  their  own."t 

Nor  was  this  Avild  life  confined  to  the  gentlemen 
of  the  Lowland  cities :  the  ladies  of  the  higher 
ranks  were  every  bit  as  fond  of  presiding  at  mid- 
night orgies ;  and  at  the  best,  the  distinction 
between  the  morals  of  Avhat  modern  feuilletomsts 
style  the  monde  and  the  demi-monde,  were  very 
shadowy.;]: 

As  a  body,  this  aristocracy  was  without  princi- 
ple and  without  patriotism,  but  not  without  hate ; 
and  the  more  they  became  impoverished,  the  bitterer 
grew  their  hate  of  the  Spaniard  who  had  tricked 
them  into  ruin,  the  closer  they  drew  towards  the 
burgher  class  which  held  the  wealth  of  Croesus  in 
its  iron  boxes,  and  the  more  they  labored  to  stir  up 
sedition ;  for  an  emente  meant,  possibly,  the  repudi- 
ation of  their  debts,  and  mortgaged  lands  wrested 

o  Badovaro,  Relatione  MS.  f  Camden,  book  3;,  p.  263. 

X  Badovaro,  Pontiis  Payen,  etc. 


204  THE  DUTCH  KEFORMATION. 

from  the  maw  of  creditors;  at  the  worst,  beggar- 
ed lords  and  mendicant  gentlemen  had  naught  to 
fear. 

No  question  but  the  nobles  joined  the  republi- 
can ranks  and  SAvelled  the  chorus  for  reform,  more 
from  pique  than  from  conviction,  and  more  from 
selfishness  than  from  either.  But  Avhile  this  is  so, 
v.e  should  not  therefore  conclude  with  the  Roman 
publicists,  or  believe,  as  the  bishop  of  Arras  pre- 
tended to  believe,  that  the  trouble  now  at  hand  was 
stirred  by  a  few  score  of  needy  and  ambitious  patri- 
cians ;  for  revolutions  are  not  made,  they  grow,  and 
this  one  was  begotten  of  the  collision  of  two  radi- 
cally antagonistic  ideas — Christian  liberty  and  Ro- 
man despotism.  It  was  a  popular,  not  an  aristo- 
cratic movement.  The  patricians  joined  it,  not 
from  choice,  but  from  necessity,  and  impelled  by 
the  hope  of  gain.  "  Those  nobles  so  conspicuous 
in  the  surface  at  the  outset,  only  drifted  before  a 
storm  which  they  neither  caused  nor  controlled," 
as  Motley  records.  "  Even  the  most  powerful  and 
sagacious  were  tossed  to  and  fro  by  the  surge  of 
great  events,  which,  as  they  rolled  more  and  more 
tumultuously  around  them,  seemed  to  become  both 
irresisible  and  unfathomable."*  If  the  Prince  of 
Orange  was  an  exception  to  all  this,  it  Avas  not  be- 
cause he  was  a  patrician,  but  because  he  was  a 
Christian  patriot,  earnest  to  serve  God  and  to  ad- 
vance the  common  weal. 

The  movement  for  reform  in  the  Netherlands 

*  Motley,  vol.  1,  j).  25G. 


UNDERCUEEENTS.  205 

liad  been  democratic  from  the  commencement,  and 
it  grew  constantly  more  and  more  popular.  How 
could  it  be  otherwise?  Had  not  the  Reformation 
called  the  people  into  being  ?  Had  it  not  crumbled 
classes  into  men  ?  Had  it  not  dug  out  of  the  low- 
est, dirtiest  boor  the  diamond  of  an  immortal  soul  ? 
Truly,  the  pariah  classes,  the  villains  of  the  feudal 
ages,  might  well  love  the  gospel  and  die  for  it ;  for 
it  had  enfranchized  them.  Who  can  marvel  that 
such  a  gospel,  "  the  hidden  might  of  Christ,"  had 
ever  a  victorious  power  joined  with  it,  like  him  in 
the  Apocalypse  that  went  forth  on  the  white  horse, 
with  his  bow  and  his  crosvn,  conquering  and  to  con- 
quer ?  Who  can  feign  to  wonder  that  it  leaj^ed  the 
Ehine,  and  clasped  Germany  to  the  bosom  of  its 
faith?  that  it  won  Switzerland  by  a  word,  and  en- 
throned its  great  apostle  at  Geneva  ?  that  it  lisped 
in  England,  and  was  buried  in  ten  times  ten  thou- 
sand hearts?  that  it  sighed  in  France,  and  awaken- 
ed the  Huguenots  ?  that  it  pleaded  in  Holland,  and 
subdued  the  Netherlands?  The  lowermost  classes 
of  all  tribes  and  tongues  could  not  choose  but  love 
and  adhere  to  the  reform,  which  resurrected  Christ 
for  the  second  time — Christ,  w'ho  had  promised  to 
reward  all  who  loved  him  with  "the  glorious  liberty 
of  the  sons  of  God." 

And  still  the  reform  spread.  The  Sclavoniau 
races  hailed  it  with  rapture.  Scandinavia  entered 
the  gospel  fold  with  eager  alacrity.  Bugeuhagen, 
the  founder  of  Lutheranism  in  Denmark,  could  find 
uo  Avords  to  describe  the  zeal  with  which  the  Danes 


206  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

listened  to  his  preaching,  "  even  on  work-days,  even 
before  daylight,  on  holidays,  and  all.  day  long."- 
The  evangelical  pastors  had  traversed  the  ice-fields 
of  Lapland  in  company  with  the  Swedish  govern - 
ors.t  On  the  south  shores  of  the  Baltic  Protestant- 
ism was  predominant.:]:  Already  the  great  cities  of 
Polish  Prussia  had  confirmed  the  ritual  of  Luther 
by  express  charter.§  And  in  Poland  itself  it  was  a 
common  saying,  "A  Polish  nobleman  is  not  subject 
to  the  king;  is  he  to  be  the  vassal  of  the  pope?"|| 
Hungary  swarmed  with  reformers;  the  mountains 
of  Franconia  echoed  to  their  exhortations.  1  In 
Vienna,  twenty  years  had  elapsed  since  a  single 
student  of  the  university  had  taken  priests'  orders.** 
Scotland  was  as  Protestant  as  Knox  could  make 
it.tt  In  England,  an  alliance  between  the  Eefor- 
mation  and  the  throne  had  moulded  the  ecclesias- 
ticism  of  the  island  into  the  peculiar  form  which  it 
still  wears  from  the  south  of  the  Thames  to  the 
TAveed.:}:]:  As  for  France,  the  Venetian  ambassador 
at  Paris,  Micheli,  gave  this  testimony  to  the  doge : 
"Your  highness,  with  some  few  exceptions,  this 
nation  has  quite  fallen  away  from  the  Latin  faith, 
especially  the  nobles  and  the  young  men  under 
forty  almost  to  a  man;  and  though  many  still  go 
to  mass,  they  do  so  for  appearance  sake,  and  out  of 

*  Narrative  of  D.  Pomerani,  15o9. 

t  Eauke,  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  p.  130.  J  Ibid. 

§  Ibid.  II  Ibid.  IT  Ibid. 

*-•  Ranke,  uhl  sup. 

tf  Chambers,  Kebellions  iu  Scotland,  1638-1660. 

tj  Hist.  Eng.  Puritaus,  Am.  Tract  Soc,  1867. 


UNDERCUEEENTS.  207 

fear ;  when  they  thmk  themselves  unobserved,  they 
turn  their  backs  on  both  mass  and  church.* 

Protestantism  everyAvhere  triumphant;  Roman- 
ism everywhere  subdued  and  despoiled — such  was 
the  jubilant  European  fact  in  the  middle  decades  of 
the  sixteenth  centur3^  Why  was  it  that  the  reform- 
ed faith  did  not  extend  its  sway  over  the  whole  of 
Christendom  at  this  auspicious  moment,  when,  con- 
queror in  the  east,  in  the  north,  in  the  west,  it  had 
insinuated  itself  into  that  holy  of  holies  of  the  popes, 
the  Spanish  peniosula,  and  stood  knocking  at  the 
gates  of  the  Vatican  itself?  Why?  Balmes,  an  em- 
inent Eomanist  pamphleteer,  shall  answer:  "Philip 
II.,  a  prince  devoted  with  his  whole  soul  to  the 
interest  of  the  Latin  church,  and  at  the  head  of  the 
most  powerful  empire  in  the  world,  by  his  energy 
and  determination  afforded  a  counterpoise  to  the 
Protestant  cause,  which  prevented  it  from  making 
itself  complete  master  of  Europe. "t  It  was,  indeed, 
Philip's  dogged  fanaticism  which  assisted  the  holy 
see  to  organize  and  launch  its  counter  movement. 

Of  course,  while  the  atmosphere  of  Europe  was 
in  this  highl}'  electric  state,  the  Netherlands  could 
not  fail  to  inhale  heres}'.  Their  very  position  made 
them  the  reservoir  of  opinion.  Among  them,  at 
least,  it  was  impossible  to  put  an  effectual  embargo 
on  thought,  for  the  great  majority  of  the  people 
could  read.  Seated  "in  the  heart  of  Europe,  the 
blood  of  a  world-wide  traffic  was  daily  coursing 

«  Miclieli,  Relatione  delle  cose  di  Fiancia,  Tanno  1561. 

t  Balmes,  Protestantism  and  Catholicity  com'  ired,  p.  215. 


208  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

through  the  veins  of  their  water-inwoven  territory. 
There  was  a  mutual  exchange  between  the  Low 
Countries  and  all  the  world,  and  ideas  were  as  lib- 
erally interchanged  as  goods.  Truth  was  imported 
as  freely  as  less  precious  merchandise.  The  psalms 
of  Marot  were  as  current  as  the  drugs  of  Malacca 
or  the  diamonds  of  Borneo.  The  strict  prohibitory 
measures  of  a  despotic  government  could  not  anni- 
hilate this  intellectual  trade;  nor  could  bigotry  de- 
vise an  efficient  quarantine  to  exclude  the  religious 
pest,  which  lurked  in  every  bale  of  merchandise, 
and  was  wafted  in  every  breeze  from  east  and  west."* 
Besides,  the  history  and  the  habits  of  this  peo- 
ple tended  to  alienate  them  from  Borne.  The  old 
bishops  of  Utrecht,  the  mediaeval  Waldenses,  had 
bitterly  opposed  the  holy  see.  The  precious  parch- 
ments which  guaranteed  their  liberties  had  been 
clutched  from  ecclesiastic  as  well  as  from  feudal 
lords.  Then,  too,  the  republican  virtues  of  tlirift 
and  intelligence  had  taught  them  to  loathe  the 
priests — a  horde  of  lazy  epecureans,  telling  beads, 
and  pampering  themselves  in  luxurious  vice  on  the 
earnings  of  others. t  Added  to  all  this,  the  burgh- 
ers were  men  accustomed  to  think  and  act  for  them- 
selves. This  independent  spirit  they  brought  to 
the  discussion  of  the  new  doctrines.  Bead  in  this 
way,  the  gospel  tenets  looked  reasonable  and  true, 
the  papal  dogmas  seemed  absurd  and  atrocious. 
They  began  to  love  the  one  and  to  doubt  the  other. 
The  authority  on  which  the  gospel  rested  was  the 
e  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  258.  f  Ibid. 


UNDEECUERENTS.  209 

Bible.  The  authority  on  which  popery  depended 
was  the  haughty  ipse  dixit  of  a  priest.  The  shrewd 
burghers  remembered  that  the  Greeks  beheved  the 
legends  in  Herodotus— that  the  Romans  credited 
the  figments  in  Liv}'.  "  Are  not  the  Italians  as 
credulous  and  as  nationally  vain  as  the  Greeks  of 
the  Athenian  forum,  as  the  Romans  of  the  heathen 
empire  ?"  queried  they ;  and  they  demanded  better 
sponsors  for  their  creed. 

For  a  time  the  Netherlands  held  to  Protestant- 
ism as  an  intellectual  conviction;  but  when  the 
fiery  field-preachers  of  the  south  of  France  entered 
the  states,  they  speedily  kindled  this  cold  adhesion 
of  the  brain  into  a  blazing  faith  in  the  heart,  ready 
to  cry  with  Paul:  "I  am  persuaded  that  neither 
death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor 
powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor 
height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be 
able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is 
in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."*  For  Protestantism 
entered  the  provinces,  not  by  the  Hapsburg,  but 
the  Huguenot  gate.f 

It  Avas  the  Netherland  people,  thus  enlightened 
by  their  memories  of  the  past,  thus  inspired  by  the 
grace  of  Christ  aglow  in  their  hearts,  that  now 
entered  the  arena,  armed  like  David  with  a  simple 
pebble,  the  gospel,  to  contend  with  the  two  Goli- 
aths  of  Spain  and  of  the  Vatican.  The  nobles? 
they  were  but  the  gilded  hands  on  the  outside  of 
the  dial;  the  hour  to  strike  was  determined  by  the 

*  Eom.  8:38,  39.  f  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  251). 


210  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

people,  the  obscure  but  weighty  movements   hid 
within/^ 

A  bitter  baptism  of  suffering,  trying  the  faith  of 
the  Netherland  disciples  "  so  as  by  fire,"  had  ripen- 
ed them  for  heroic  deeds,  for  martyrdom  is  the 
grandest  developer  of  revolutions.  For  years  the 
pitiless  edicts  of  Charles  V.  had  hacked  them;  of 
late  the  yet  more  merciless  placards  of  Philip  II. 
meted  and  peeled  them ;  and  though  content  to 

"Wait  beneath  the  fm-nace-blast  the  pangs  of  transformation," 

quivering  lips  could  not  at  all  times  choke  the  wail, 
"How  long,  O  Lord,  how  long?" 

Singularly  enough,  the  Eeformation,  hypocriti- 
cally acquiesced  in  for  a  space  in  Germany,  peace- 
fully settled  in  England  by  the  recent  accession  of 
Elizabeth  to  the  throne,  armed  and  militant  in 
France,  was  still  banned  and  burned  in  the  Nether- 
lands, and  all  the  more  fiercely  persecuted,  because 
the  general  pacification  left  Philip  nothing  else  to 
do.  From  the  east  and  from  the  west  the  clouds 
rolled  away,  leaving  a  comparatively  bright  and 
peaceful  atmosphere,  only  that  they  might  concen- 
trate themselves  with  portentous  blackness  over 
the  devoted  soil  of  the  Netherlands.f 

Philip  did  indeed  lend  his  assistance  to  the* 
ultramontane  party  in  France,  and  scheme  to  set  on 
foot  another  "  Sicilian  vespers."  But  the  splintered 
lance  which  pierced  the  brain  of  Henry  XL  in  the 
dismal  tournament  of  1559,  postponed  the  Hugue- 
not massacre  for  a  dozen  years,  and  seated  a  wom- 
c-  Motley.  t  Ibid. 


UNDEECUREENTS.  211 

an  in  the  regency  whose  tenure  of  power  depended 
upon  the  division  of  the  kingdom  into  hostile  fac- 
tions. The  power  of  Catharine  de'  Medici  grew 
from  her  poHcy  of  balancing  Coligny  against  Guise, 
Huguenot  against  Romanist;  therefore  "the  per- 
suasions of  Philip  and  the  arts  of  Alva  were  power- 
less to  induce  her  to  carry  out  the  scheme  which 
Henry  had  revealed  to  Orange  in  the  forest  of  Yin- 
cennes."  Eventually  the  queen-mother  thought 
that  she  might  say  "yes"  to  the  project  without 
being  the  suicide  of  her  own  influence ;  but  "  when 
the  crime  came,  it  was  as  blundering  as  it  was 
bloody;  at  once  premeditated,  and  accidental;  the 
isolated  execution  of  an  integral  conspiracy,  exist- 
ing for  half  a  generation,  yet  exploding  without 
concert ;  a  wholesale  massacre,  but  a  piecemeal 
plot."* 

But  St.  Bartholomew  was  still  in  the  future,  and 
we  have  to  do  with  the  Netherlands  in  the  year 
1559.  We  know  now  what  their  status  was,  and 
what  their  sentiments.  What  remains  then  but  to 
open  the  governmental  book? 

*  Motley. 


212  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

QUICKSANDS. 

Had  Philip  II.  been  Aiirelius,  or  had  he  risen 
to  the  level  of  the  old  philosophers  of  Academus, 
he  would  have  known  that  a  system  of  toleration 
in  the  domain  of  faith,  and  of  liberality  in  the 
realm  of  politics,  would  be  best  suited  to  the  genius 
of  the  Netherlands ;  but  he  was  a  fanatic,  and  it 
was  his  grim  ambition  either  to  desolate  the  coun- 
try— sweep  it  clean  as  the  palm  of  his  hand,  or  to 
Romanize  it. 

Some  say  the  king  was  mad.  Gayarr6  bids  us 
remember  that  "  his  royal  line  sprang  from  insanity 
in  the  person  of  his  mother,  Joanna  of  Castile,  and 
ended  as  it  began,  in  the  idiotic  madness  of  Charles 
IL,  the  last  Hapsburg  on  the  throne  of  Spain."^ 
'T  is  an  ingenious  argument ;  but  if  it  be  indeed  so, 
we  cannot  fail  to  think  that  Philip  had  "  method  in 
his  madness." 

Still,  his  departure  from  the  Netherlands  on  the 
eve  of  the  battle  between  absolutism  and  conscience, 
was  a  capital  error.  He  should  have  remained,  to 
give  his  innovations  the  advantage  of  the  personal 
presence  of  royalty.  Delegated  power  is  at  best 
but  weak ;  and  when,  as  now,  the  government  was 
known  to  be  but  the  sh-adow  of  a  shadow — for  Mar- 
o  GayariH-',  Hist,  of  Pliilip  II.,  p.  83. 


QUICKSANDS.  213 

garet  was  seen  to  be  but  the  puppet  of  Arras — the 
people  were  still  less  disposed  to  brook  insulting 
changes  and  to  pocket  wrongs. 

Besides,  their  lingering  loyalty  forbade  them 
to  connect  the  king  with  their  grievances:  they 
strapped  the  load  upon  the  shoulders  of  his  minis- 
ter; and  borrowing  the  tactics  of  their  ancestors, 
who,  while  i^retending,  were  really  sJiaking  off  obe- 
dience to  Tiberius  and  Vesjoasian,  they  pelted  the 
usurpations  of  the  regency  as  treason  against  the 
throne,""'  which  had  been  an  impossible  rusc,\v\i\\ 
Philip  at  Brussels. 

As  for  the  minister,  he  had  a  wit  that  could 
easily  new-cast  itself  into  any  mould.  He  endeav- 
ored to  veil  his  influence  from  vulgar  eyes;  for 
which  purpose  he  revived  a  custom  which  draws  its 
date  fi'om  the  times  of  Augustus  and  Tiberius,  and 
transacted  his  business  with  the  government  through 
the  medium  of  notes,  even  though  they  were  both 
dwelling  under  a  common  roof — a  practice  which 
Arras  esteemed  to  have  this  further  advantage,  of 
more  deeply  imprinting  his  counsel  upon  Marga- 
ret's mind,  and  affording  him  data  to  fall  back  on 
in  case  of  need.t  "  But  't  is  hard  to  deceive  the 
keen  eyes  of  the  court,"  says  Strada;  "  and  now  no 
man  doubted  but  that  Arras  insj^ired  every  move; 
and  as  often  happens  in  such  cases,  even  matters 
in  Avhich  he  really  had  no  hand,  when  once  his 
name  was  up  for  a  favorite  and  a  do-all,  were  held 

^  Vaudervj'uckt,  Troubles  des  Pays-Bas,  torn.  2. 
f  Strada,  uhi  sup. 


214  THE  DUTCH   REFORMATION. 

to  be  his  doings."^'  It  was  au  early  and  striking 
application  of  that  graceful  fiction  of  modern  par- 
liamentary law  in  England,  which  shields  the  sov- 
ereign beneath  ministerial  responsibility^ 

In  January,  1560,  the  administration  opened  its 
campaign  against  the  people  by  the  publication  of 
the  papal  bull  creating  those  new  bishoprics  which 
Philip  had  solicited  M^hile  yet  at  Brussels/!" 

The  object  of  the  innovation  was  palpable,  for 
it  sought  to  destroy  the  equilibrium  and  to  corrupt 
the  independence  of  the  three  orders,  the  clergy, 
the  nobility,  and  the  cities,  whose  delegates  formed 
the  states-general  of  the  Netherlands.  For  many 
years  the  clergy  had  been  a  free  and  powerful  order 
in  the  state,  governed  and  represented  by  four  bish- 
ops, chosen  by  the  chapters  of  the  towns,  or  elected 
by  the  suffrages  of  the  monks  of  the  abbeys.:]:  Pos- 
sessing an  independent  territorial  revenue,  and  not 
directly  subject  to  the  influence  of  the  crown,  these 
churchmen  had  to  some  extent  interests  and  feel- 
ings in  common  with  the  nation ;  while  bishops  and 
abbots  occupied  the  Ui3per  benches  of  the  states- 
general,  side  by  side  with  their  good  friends  the 
barons.§  Thus  circumstanced,  and  immensely 
wealthy,  these  recluses  were  lazy  to  a  proverb. 
Like  Erasmus,  they  were  optimists,  so  long  as  their 
ease  and  purse  were  left  them.  Philip  saw  that 
he  could  never  spur  these  epicurean  monks  into 
preaching  a  crusade  against  heresy,  in  which  they 

«-  Strada,  uU  sup.  t  Cliap.  X.,  p.  ICO. 

J  Vandervynckt,  Gialtaii.  §  Ibid. 


QUICKSANDS.  215 

were  certain  to  gain  nothing,  and  exposed  to  lose 
mucli.^-' 

Besides,  he  could  not  reach  them,  for  they  were 
■within  the  spiritual  jurisdiction  of  the  two  archie- 
piscopal  sees  of  Cologne  and  Rheims  in  France — 
an  extra-provincial  allegiance  which  had  long  been 
a  stumbling-block  to  the  Low  Country  sover- 
eigns.t 

Presto!  and  now  look.  The  bull  authorized 
Philip  to  increase  the  number  of  the  Netherland 
bishops  from  four  to  eighteen,  he  to  have  the  nom- 
ination, the  pope  to  retain  the  confirmation.  Three 
archiepiscopates  Avere  established,  one  at  Cambray, 
one  at  Utrecht,  one  at  Mechlin,  which  snatched 
the  prerogative  from  the  alien  archbishops ;  and  to 
crown  all,  Perrenot  was  made  archbishop  of  Mech- 
lin, and  promoted  from  the  see  of  Arras  to  the  j)ri- 
macy  of  the  Netherlands.^ 

A  trick  was  to  insure  the  subserviency  of  the 
abbeys.  From  a  pretended  motive  of  economy,  the 
new  prelates  were  endowed  with  the  title  of  abbots 
of  the  chief  monasteries  of  their  respective  dioceses, 
which  not  only  insured  them  a  reversion  in  the  gold 
chests  of  these  establishments;  but,  better  still  for 
despotism,  made  them  the  legal  heirs  of  the  politi- 
cal rights  of  the  abbots,  after  the  death  of  those 
then  living;  secured  the  dominance  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical order  to  the  creatures  of  the  court ;  and  gave 

«  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  2(io. 

t  Schiller,  p.  42;^.     Metereii,  Yandervynckt. 

X  Strada,  p.  40. 


216  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

Pliilip  the  control  of  that  estate  in  the  national 
assembly.* 

When  the  papal /ai  announced  this  programme, 
the  Netherlands  were  filled  with  consternation,  for 
the  negotiations  with  the  holy  see  which  resulted  in 
the  decretal  had  been  kept  secret,  and  were  known 
to  but  few.t  For  once,  priest,  noble,  and  citizen 
united  to  execrate  this  fatal  usurpation.  "It  is 
impious,  for  it  confiscates  our  houses,  perverts  to 
selfish  objects  riches  which  a  devout  charity  has 
jolaced  in  our  chests  for  the  relief  of  tJie  unfortu- 
nate, and  usurps  for  the  plunderers  of  the  poor  the 
places  of  superiors  elected  by  and  among  ourselves 
from  time  immemorial,"  cried  the  abbots.  "  'T  is  a 
trick,  by  means  of  which  we  are  to  be  out-voted  in 
the  states-general  by  lackey  churchmen  bound  to 
enact  what  the  king  shall  be  pleased  to  dictate," 
said  the  barons.  "  It  is  the  entering  wedge  of  the 
Inquisition — part  of  the  merciless  machinery  of  per- 
secution," exclaimed  the  citizens.ij:  With  one  accord 
the  innovation  was  hooted  as  a  fraud,  and  scouted 
as  unconstitutional  —  fatally  against  the  ancient 
charters  of  the  states;  and  so  it  was. 

For  the  constitution  of  Brabant  contained  these 
three  provisions  among  others :  "  The  prince  of  the 
land  shall  not  elevate  the  clerical  estate  higher  than 
of  old  has  been  customary  and  by  former  princes 
settled,  unless  by  consent  of  the  other  two  estates, 

*  Graftal!,  p.  !)2. 

f  Papiers  d'Etat,  torn.  5.     Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1. 

I  Schiller,  p.  430.     Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  271,  et  seg. 


QUICKSANDS.  217 

namely,  tlie  nobility  and  the  cities."  "  The  iDrince 
shall  appoint  no  foreigners  to  office  iu  Brabant." 
"  Should  the  prince,  by  force  or  otherwise,  violate 
any  of  these  privileges,  the  inhabitants  of  Brabant, 
after  regular  protest  entered,  are  discharged  of  their 
oaths  of  allegiance,  and  as  free,  independent,  and 
unbound  people,  may  conduct  themselves  as  seems 
to  them  best."* 

So  spoke  the  charter  of  Brabant,  to  which  Philip 
II.  had  sworn  and  set  his  seal ;  and  so  that  of  Hol- 
land, its  tAvin  brother;  and  so  the  rest.f  To  these 
brave  old  parchments  the  Netherlanders  now  had 
recourse,  and  a  combat  of  words,  a  battle  of  pens, 
a  war  of  letters  at  once  commenced.  The  humblest 
citizen  could  quibble,  when  liberty  was  in  peril  from 
a  misconstruction  of  statute  law,  as  glibly  as  the 
primate  himself,  and  closely  and  widely  were  the 
constitutions  studied.  The  people  were  keen  to  see 
and  quick  to  note.  It  was  quite  impossible  to  cheat 
their  instincts,  for  the  Reformation  had  been  their 
teacher,  and  the  Eeformation  was  a  schoolmaster 
that  carried  its  pupils  up  from  room  to  room  in  the 
university  of  the  mind. 

However,  the  masses  did  err  in  attributing  the 
inception  of  this  assault  upon  their  privileges,  as 
everybody  did,  to  the  new  metropolitan.  They  mis- 
took when  they  thought  Perrenot  had  sj)un  his  hon- 
ors out  of  his  own  brain,  as  spiders  spin  their  houses 
out  of  their  own  bowels.     For  once  the  churchman 

*  Metereu,  vol.  1,  p.  28.     Bor,  vol.  1,  p.  19.  f  Ibid. 

t  Papiers  cl'Etat,  torn.  C,  p.  554. 

Dutch  Eef.  ^Q 


218  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

was  inuocent.  Until  the  bull  came,  lie  knew  nothing 
of  the  project;*  bvit  when  it  came,  by  adopting  and 
attempting  to  enforce  it  he  made  the  offence  his  own. 
When  it  was  bruited  on  the  streets  that  Perrenot 
had  accepted  the  see  of  Mechlin,  the  rage  of  the 
people  was  portentous.  Even  the  minister's  match- 
less serenity  was  a  trifle  disturbed.  When  Holiness 
strangled  Error,  in  Spenser's  immortal  poem, 
"  Her  vomit  full  of  books  and  papers  was." 

When  report  made  Perrenot  the  originator  of  this 
innovation,  his  alarm  was  full  of  despatches.  Once, 
twice,  thrice  he  hurried  couriers  o&  to  Madrid, 
freighted  with  letters  to  this  effect:  "They  say  that 
the  episcopates  wete  devised  to  gratify  my  ambi- 
tion; as  your  majesty  did  not  consult  me  in  the 
matter,  I  pray  you  contradict  these  ill  reports."t 
And  the  docile  monarch  sent  back  the  denial  as 
repeatedly  as  it  was  asked  for.:]:  But  it  was  use- 
less;  denials  subscribed  "Philip,  Eex,"  and  piled 
as  high  as  the  dome  of  St,  Peter's,  would  not  have 
absolved  him  in  the  minds  of  the  people.  He  was 
the  friend  of  Spain;  Spain  had  the  Inquisition; 
therefore  he  wished  to  plant  it  in  the  Netherlands ; 
and  the  syllogism  seemed  without  a  flaw,  "Bah!" 
cried  they,  with  a  bitter,  incredulous  smile ;  "  is  not 
Perrenot  the  lion  of  this  fable?  Who  is  it  that  is 
striving  to  settle  the  new  order  ?"  No  epigram  was 
made  that  did  not  blister  him;  not  one  after-din- 
ner speech  but  took  him  for  its  text.     At  last  the 

"  Papiers  d'Etat,  torn.  6,  p.  554.  f  Ibid. ,  pp.  552-.i62. 

J  Cor.  de  Phil.  II.,  torn.  ],  p.  207. 


QUICKSANDS.'  219 

complaceni  prelate,  who  had  patted  the  new  arrange- 
ment on  the  head  and  styled  it  "  a  holy  work," 
warmly  pledging  fortune,  blood,  and  life  to  its  suc- 
cess, wailed  this  prayer  in  the  ears  of  the  Spanish 
ambassador  at  Eome :  "  Would  to  God  that  the 
erection  of  these  new  sees  had  never  been  thought 
of.     Amen ;  amen."* 

The  excitement  of  the  people,  already  finding 
voice  in  a  menacing  chorus,  was  tuned  to  a  still 
higher  pitch  by  the  continued  retention  of  the  Span- 
ish soldiers  in  the  Netherlands.  Three  months,  six 
months,  nine  months,  twelve  months  passed,  and 
yet  they  lingered,  in  the  teeth  of  the  royal  promise 
that  they  should  be  speedily  removed.t  "  What- 
ever else  is  left  undone,  retain  the  men-at  arms," 
said  the  royal  liar  to  the  minister,  at  their  parting 
interview. t  Perrenot  strained  every  nerve  to  obey 
the  mandate.  Setting  his  imagination  at  work,  he 
invented  evils  which  the  presence  of  the  soldiers 
could  alone  avert.  Trading  on  credulity,  he  based 
their  tarry  on  events  which  he  knew  would  never 
take  place.  Thus,  by  elevating  fables  into  realities, 
he  illustrated  the  old  saying,  that  "  there  is  nothing 
so  false  as  figures  but  facts." 

But  the  platitudes  of  the  prelate  were  unheeded. 
It  was  an  open  secret  that  the  men-at-arms  were 
part  and  parcel  of  the  conspiracy  against  the  states.§ 
Fiercer  and  louder  grew  the  clamor.     The  Zealand- 

*  Papiers  d'Etat,  torn.  G,  p.  3-il.  Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  1,  p. 
275,  and  in  Prescott,  vol.  1,  p.  501.  f  Chap.  XII.,  p.  212. 

J  Vandervyuckt,  Meteren.  §  Apologic  d'Orauge. 


220  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

ers,  among  wliom  the  mercenaries  werci  quartered 
for  a  time,  were  so  exasperated  at  their  presence 
that  they  refused  to  go  near  the  dykes,  then  in  need 
of  the  annual  repairs,  and  indeed  threatened  to 
swamp  the  province,  unless  speedily  ridden  of  the 
pest.* 

Some  time  before  Margaret  learned  of  the  feel- 
ing in  Zealand,  she  had  cajoled  the  Low  Country 
merchants  into  advancing  the  pay  of  these  soldiers, 
on  pretext  of  the  necessity  of  settling  their  arrears 
before  removing  them,  pledging  the  royal  treasury 
to  refund  tlie  debt.t  Now,  disgusted  with  the 
treaty  of  Philip,  and  convinced  that  there  was  no 
intention  to  send  off  the  troops,  they  too  lent  their 
voices  to  swell  the  chorus  of  dissatisfaction,  and 
even  went  so  far  as  to  refuse  to  pay  their  taxes  to 
the  government  collectors.:!: 

At  last  the  court  was  alarmed.  In  October, 
1560,  a  session  of  the  council  of  state  was  held,  on 
which  occasion  Orange  threw  up  the  command  of 
his  legion,  and  affirmed,  supported  by  Viglius  and 
by  the  primate  himself,  that  the  longer  retention  of 
the  Spanish  regiments  would  inevitably  provoke  a 
revolt.  The  governant  begged  that  action  might 
be  deferred  until  the  return  of  Egmout,  then  absent 
on  an  embassy  to  Spain,  but  expecting  ere  long  to 
return  to  Brussels ;  but  this  proposition  was  nega- 
tived without  dissent.§ 

*  Vandervynckt,  Troubles  des  Pays-Bas. 

-j-  Meteren.  Grotius.  {  Strada,  p.  51. 

§  Documents  luedits,  torn.  1,  pp.  330,  331. 


QUICKSANDS.  221 

Nothing  remained  but  to  succumb.  Accord- 
ingly, the  regent  wrote  to  acquaint  the  king  with 
the  result  of  the  council ;  but  since  this  missive  was 
to  be  read  at  the  open  board  before  being  despatched 
to  Madrid,  she  touched  slightly  and  perfunctorily 
on  the  causes  which  had  influenced  the  decision, 
lest  she  might  be  thought  to  act  from  fear.-  ■ 

In  a  private  note,  written  in  cipher  and  sent  hj 
the  same  post,  she  opened  the  cause  more  fully  to 
Philip's  eye :  "  The  provinces  are  resolved,  sire,  that 
so  long  as  they  are  overawed  by  the  foreign  sol- 
diers, they  will  not  give  a  penny  to  the  collectors 
by  way  of  subsidy.  The  bankers  complain  that  the 
cities  which  borrowed  of  them  great  sums  where- 
with to  pay  the  Spaniards  when  they  seemed  about 
to  quit  the  land,  when  they  saw  them  delayed,  grew 
angry,  and  refused  to  pay  interest  on  the  money. 
Our  sky  is  overcast ;  mischief  impends  ;  I  pray  you, 
sire,  release  our  fears  by  ordering  these  regiments 
hence."t 

At  the  same  time  the  primate  wrote  these  lines  to 
"  the  master :"  "  It  cuts  me  to  the  heart  to  see  the 
troops  leave  us  ;  but  go  they  must.  Would  to  God 
that  we  could  devise  some  pretext  for  their  stay,  as 
your  majesty  desires!  We  have  tried  all  means 
humanly  possible ;  but  I  see  no  way  to  retain  them 
Avithout  incurring  the  risk  of  a  sudden  revolt,  which, 
just  now,  would  be  a  blunder."^ 

Upon  the  receipt  of  these  letters,  PhiHp  was 

*  Strada,  uhi  sup.  f  Cited  iu  Strada,  pp.  51,  52. 

X  Papiers  d'Etat,  tome  5. 


222  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

plunged  into  doubt ;  but  happily  for  the  Nether- 
lands, just  at  this  moment  he  received  news  of  a 
reverse  to  his  arms  on  the  coast  of  Barbary- — a 
reverse  which  necessitated  reinforcements.  Taking 
np  his  pen,. he  scrawled  these  lines  to  Margaret: 
"You  may,  if  you  see  fit,  send  away  the  Sj)anish 
soldiers,  who  will  be  a  seasonable  supply  in  Africa. 
As  for  the  money-masters,  I  will  look  to  their 
engagement  with  the  cities."* 

This  permit  was  decisive.  Early  in  1561,  the 
hated  mercenaries  embarked  for  the  Mediterranean 
amid  the  execrations  of  the  seventeen  provinces.f 
Over  their  departure,  Margaret  and  the  primate 
alone  grieved.  The  Netherlands  gave  that  day  at 
least  to  vivas. 

*  Strada,  ubi  sup.  t  H^id-j  Schiller,  Motley. 


AGITATION.  223 


CHAPTEE   XV. 

AGITATION. 

When  the  ships  wliicli  bore  the  mercenaries  to 
Africa  lifted  anchor,  the  court  said  with  a  sigh, 
"Alack,  'tis  a  sad  necessity;  but  there  is  one  good 
thing,  we  shall  see  the  flood-tide  of  popular  rage 
begin  to  ebb,  which  will  leave  us  to  new-model  the 
abbeys  without  danger  of  catching  cold  from  wet 
feet."  It  was  an  error  into  which  Margaret  fell, 
because  she  was  more  skilful  as  a  hawker  than  as  a 
governant;  and  into  which  the  primate  stumbled 
because  his  politics  were  precisely  those  which 
least  qualified  him  for  the  control,  or  even  com- 
prehension of  a  republican  movement,  not  to  be 
barred  by  artful  dodging,  suave  lies,  and  occult 
cruelty. 

The  Netherlanders  hooted  the  embarking  Span- 
iards, but  refused  to  hush  their  suspicions  to  sleep 
when  they  were  gone.  The  Inquisition  impended, 
and  nothing  was  done  while  any  thing  remained 
undone.  The  agitation  gathered  to  a  focus,  and 
was  increased  by  concentration.  The  talk  of  the 
sidewalks  crystallized  into  organized  resistance. 
Brabant  expended  thirty  thousand  florins  in  the 
defence  of  her  charter,  paid  for  the  opinions  of  the 
most  eminent  of  the  European  jurists,  and  accred 


224:  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

ited  an  agent  to  Rome  to  appeal  from  the  pope  ill- 
informed  to  Lis  holiness  better-informed.*  Utrecht, 
Guelders,  Deventer,  Karemond,  and  Lenwardeu 
slammed  their  gates  in  the  faces  of  the  prelates  for 
whose  benefit  they  had  been  erected  into  dioceses.f 
Brave  Antwerp  absolutely  refused  to  install  her 
bishop,  and  despatched  a  commission  to  Spain  to 
represent  to  Philip  the  ruin  that  such  an  innovation 
would  send  along  her  wharves.  For  a  twelvemonth 
the  remonstrance  which  was  thus  carried  to  his 
throne,  was  suffered  by  the  king  to  lie,  unanswered 
and  neglected,  in  the  pigeon-holes  of  his  royal 
cabinet ;  and  at  the  last,  he  would  render  no  defin- 
ite decision,  though  consenting  to  defer  the  installa- 
tion of  tliat  individual  prelate  until  his  personal 
arrival  at  Brussels,  which  he  seems  at  that  time  to 
have  contemplated.  This  was  more  than  Antwerp 
had  expected,  and  her  burghers  regarded  themselves 
as  indefinitely  reprieved.:}; 

In  some  towns  no  open  resistance  was  made  to 
the  new  bishops,  though  they  were  everywhere 
received  with  the  most  marked  and  bitter  con- 
tempt.§  When  the  primate  himself  entered  the 
capital  of  his  see,  Mechlin  contained  no  voice  to 
cheer  him,  and  no  tongue  to  shout  a  welcome  :||  "he 
seemed  more  like  a  thief  stealthily  climbing  into  the 

■'-  Vandervynckt,  Troubles  des  Pays-Bas,  torn.  2,  j).  71. 
f  Ibid.,  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn  1.    Meteren. 
X  Papiers  d'  Etat  de  Granvelle,  torn.  6,  p.  612.     Meteren,  Hist, 
des  Pays-Bas,  folio  31. 

§  Ibid.,  Cor.  de  Philijipe  II.,  torn.  1. 
II  Vandervynckt,  torn.  2,  p.  77. 


AGITATION.  225 

fold,   than    a   good    sliepherd   who    had   come   to 
guard  it."* 

In  February,  1561,  Margaret  secured  for  Arras 
a  cardinal's  hat.  From  this  time,  Anthony  Perre- 
not,  the  notary's  son,  vanishes;  he  is  transformed 
into  Cardinal  Granvelle,  and  by  that  name  we  must 
know  him,  if  we  wish  to  be  in  the  fashion.  This 
unexpected  honor — his  good  friend  the  duchess  had 
obtained  the  red  hat  from  his  holiness  unknoAvn  to 
the  bishop — did  not  tend  to  abate  the  rigor  or  to 
lower  the  autocratic  tone  of  the  upstart  minister. 

The  evident  rulership,  the  careless  impudence 
of  Granvelle  could  not  fail  to  madden  a  body  of 
nobles  as  haughty  as  himself,  and  who  despised 
him  as  a  mushroom  favorite  who  had  been  cradled 
in  the  dingy  office  of  a  country  lawyer.  When  he 
cracked  his  whip,  they  refused  to  cower. 

On  his  part,  the  cardinal  repaid  contempt  with 
contempt,  and  regarded  the  bulk  of  his  antagonists 
as  a  horde  of  titled  blockheads.  He  treated  them 
as  if  they  had  been  a  parcel  of  foolish  children  ;  and 
never  consulted  those  lords  who  were  nominally 
associated  with  him  in  the  government,  except  upon 
the  most  trivial  questions:  every  matter  of  impor- 
tance being  decided  by  the  consulta,  whose  irrespon- 
sible and  unknown  acts,  meanwhile,  were  done  hi  the 
name  of  all  the  members  of  the  council  of  state. f 

Against  this  absolutism  of  the  minister  the  fiery 
Egmont  rebelled,  nor  was  Orange  the  man  to  ac- 
knowledge its  legitimacy.     Neither  fancied  respon- 
*  Prcscott,  vol.  1,  p,  500.  f  Meteren,  Schiller,  Motley. 

10* 


226  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

sibility  without  participation.  Between  Egmont 
and  Granvelle  there  was  bitter  feucl.  They  were 
antipodal  characters.  The  count  was  a  rude  sol- 
dier, ignorant,  impetuous,  blunt,  and  proud.  The 
cardinal  was  a  Machiaevellian  politician,  deeply 
read,  shrewd,  self  -  controlled,  and  unscrupulous. 
Such  men  could  not  but  despise  each  other. 

Not  only  so,  but  on  several  occasions  Granvelle 
had  taken  pains  to  thwart  Egmont :  once  when  the 
count  had  requested  the  governorship  of  Hesdin 
for  a  friend,  whereupon  the  minister  awarded  it  to 
a  gentleman  who  had  no  claim  to  the  office;  and 
once  again  when  the  count  asked  that  the  abbey  of 
Trulle  might  be  given  to  a  relative,  on  which  the 
greedy  cardinal  appropriated  it  to  himself.*  By 
similar  acts  he  had  angered  others  of  the  Neth- 
erland  seignors  —  Horn  and  Berghen  and  Brede- 
rode. 

One  day  there  was  a  scene  in  the  council-cham- 
ber, which  came  near  having  a  tragic  close.  Eg- 
mont, exasperated  by  the  bland  insolence  of  the 
cardinal,  drew  his  sword,  and  was  about  to  sheath 
it  in  the  body  of  his  foe,  when  Orange  with  others 
seized  and  disarmed  him ;  and  all  this  occurred 
before  the  eyes  of  the  duchess  regent.t 

The  relations  between  Orange  and  Granvelle 
had  once  been  very  intimate;  and  now,  though  tlie 

'•'  Dom  I'Eresque  Memoires,  torn.  1,  p.  231.  Cited  iu  Motley, 
vol.  1,  p.  283. 

t  Pontus  Payen,  MS.  Some  say  Egmont  cuffed  Grauvello's 
ears.     Sec  Van  der  Hacr,  tom.  1,  p.  180,  d  seq. 


AGITATION.  227 

cardinal  plotted  for  absolutism  while  the  prince 
planned  for  the  opposition,  both  were  a  trifle  timid 
about  precipitating  an  open  rupture  of  the  old-time 
friendship.  Granvelle  knew  how  to  dissemble,  and 
Orange  had  learned  to  piece  out  the  lion's  skin 
■with  the  fox's  ;*  therefore  the  forms  of  amity  were 
carefully  preserved  long  after  the  reality  was  dead.f 
But  in  this  play  of  diamond  cut  diamond  neither 
was  foolish  enough  to  depreciate  the  other.  The 
prince  knew  that  Granvelle  was  Machiavelli  resur- 
rected. The  cardinal,  not  even  affecting  to  under- 
rate Orange,  wrote  Philip  soon  after  his  departure 
for  Spain :  "  'T  is  a  man  of  profound  genius,  vast 
ambition — dangerous,  acute,  politic. "| 

"With  all  their  caution  it  was  impossible  that 
two  men  so  widely  at  variance  in  motive  and  pur- 
pose should  long  be  able  to  mask  their  feelings 
behind  a  decayed  intimacy ;  and  indeed  it  was  not 
many  weeks  after  Egmont's  escapade  at  the  coun- 
cil-board that  these  "good  friends"  announced 
their  enmity. 

Orange  was  hereditary  burgrave  of  Antwerp,  a 
connection  which  entitled  him  to  a  potential  voice 
in  the  municipality.  The  selection  of  the  magis- 
trates was  at  this  moment  an  important  matter,  as 
the  city  was  in  hot  opposition  to  the  bishopric's 
usurpation.  At  such  an  hour,  Granvelle,  riding 
rough-shod  over  the  rights  of  the  prince,  presumed 
to  nominate  the  political  foes  of  the  burgrave ;  and 

^  "Si  leonina  pellis  nou  satis  est,  viilpiua  addenda." 

t  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  285.  t  Ibid.,  p.  284. 


228  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

then,  without  consultation,  coolly  confirmed  them 
in  the  magistracy  by  a  fiat  of  the  consulta.  Not 
pausing  here,  the  minister  carried  his  impudence 
still  farther  by  selecting  Orange  as  one  of  the  com- 
missioners who  were  to  see  that  the  decree  was 
carried  into  effect.  This  audacity  exhausted  the' 
patience  of  the  prince.  "Tell  the  duchess,"  sneered 
he  with  a  cold  smile,  on  being  handed  the  commis- 
sion, whidi  he  returned  unopened,  "  that  I  am  not 
her  lackey;  she  may  send  some  other  on  her 
errands."* 

Then,  repairing  to  the  council.  Orange  bitterly 
resented  Granvelle's  insolence,  stabbing  the  smooth 
churchman  with  such  cutting  words  that  he  too  lost 
temper,  and  rushing  from  the  chamber  with  un- 
prelatical  iniprecations  on  his  lips,  vowed  hence- 
forth to  droj)  all  communication  with  these  grand 
seignors.t 

Concealment  was  at  an  end,  and  Orange,  with 
his  accustomed  promptitude,  acted.  On  the  23d  of 
July,  1561,  he  addressed  an  epistle  to  Philip,  which 
was  also  signed  by  Egmont.  Complaining  of  Gran- 
velle's impudence,  and  of  his  bold  usurpation  of 
authority — to  the  complete  disfranchisement  of  the 
other  counsellors,  who  were  held  responsible  for 
the  secret  decisions  of  the  consulta — the  missive 
closed  by  requesting  the  king  either  to  curb  the 
cardinal  by  forcing  him  to  admit  all  to  the  deliber- 
ations and  decisions  of  the  council  of  state,  or  to 

«  Bakh,  V.  d.  Brink.     Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  286. 
t  Ibid. 


AGITATION.  220 

accept  the  resignation  of  liis  servants  Orange  and 
Egmont.* 

Philip  received  these  lines  in  the  secrecy  of  his 
cabinet  at  Madrid,  and  cursed  the  writers.  But  he 
replied  blandly  enough  that  he  thanked  the  nobles 
for  their  zeal :  "  I  will  answer  more  at  large,"  said 
he,  "  on  the  return  of  Count  Horn."t  Horn  was 
admiral  of  the  Netherlands,  and  had  escorted  Philip 
to  Spain.l  A  man  of  haughty  and  somewhat  sullen 
temper,  brave  and  honest,  but  overbearing  and 
quarrelsome,§  Horn  had  incurred  the  enmity  of 
the  cardinal  by  contemptuously  rejecting  the  suit 
of  a  brother  of  the  prelate,  who  aspired  to  the  hand 
of  the  admiral's  sister.H  His  own  hatred  for  Horn 
the  wily  favorite  succeeded  in  planting  in  Philip's 
breast,  and  we  shall  ere  long  see  what  bloody  fruit 
it  bore. 

The  voluminous  minister  took  care  to  despatch 
a  dozen  manuscript  quartos  of  news  to  Madrid 
every  twenty-four  hours ;  and  thus  the  royal  scribe 
was  kept  freshly  familiar  with  events  at  Brussels, 
always,  however,  from  Granvelle's  stand-point.  Of 
course  the  opposition  which  was  made  to  the  new 
bishoprics  received  a  copious  recital.  "  Your  maj- 
esty," wrote  he  in  one  of  his  tri-daily  epistles, 
"  there  is  the  same  kind  of  talk  now  about  the  bish- 
oprics which  brought  about  the  recall  of  the  Span- 

*  Correspondauce  cle  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  pp.  195,  I'JG. 
t  Ibid.,  p.  197.  I  Meteren,  Hist,  des  Pays-Bas. 

§  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  100. 
II  La  deduction  de  rinuocence  du  Comte  de  Horn. 


230  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

isli  troops."*  On  another  occasion  Granve.le 
cliargecl  and  primed  "the  master"  with  an  answer 
to  a  letter  which  was  about  to  be  sent  him  in  oj^po- 
sition  to  the  new-modelled  abbeys.  "When  they 
say  the  scheme  is  contrary  to  the  charters  of  the 
states,  tell  them,  sire" — it  was  so  he  wrote — "  that 
you  have  consulted  those  learned  in  the  laws,  and 
have  convinced  yourself  that  the  project  is  perfectly 
constitutional;  wherefore  command  Orange  and  the 
rest  to  use  their  influence  to  promote  the  success  of 
the  good  work."t  Happily  for  Philip  this  letter 
reached  him  just  before  the  arrival  at  Madrid  of 
the  deputation  sent  out  by  the  estates  of  Brabant 
to  solicit  his  abandonment  of  the  innovation.  The 
king  listened  patiently,  and  then  rejoined  by  reciting 
to  them  wdth  great  accuracy  the  lesson  which  he  had 
privately  received  from  the  ubiquitous  cardinal.:|: 

But  while  dissembling  in  public,  Philip  opened 
his  heart  to  Granvelle  in  his  correspondence.  "  'T  is 
no  time  to  temporize,"  said  he ;  "  we  must  chastise 
with  rigor,  with  severity.  These  rascals  can  only 
be  made  to  do  right  through  fear,  and  not  always 
even  by  that  means."§ 

Even  thus  early  nothing  kept  Philip  from  send- 
ing an  army  into  the  Netherlands  to  enforce  his 
wishes  with  the  iron  hand,  save  the  exhausted  state 
of  the  royal  finances.  The  home  exchequer  was 
dismal  enough — looked  blue  as  indigo. 

*  Papiers  cl'Etat,  torn.  6,  p.  261. 

t  Ibid.,  pp.  463,  464.  J  Motlej^  vol.  1,  p.  291. 

§  Papiers  cl'Etat  de  Grauvelle,  torn.  6,  p.  421. 


AGITATION.  231 

Nor  was  the  financial  horizon  brighter  in  the 
Netherlands.  The  cardinal  was  constantly  ham- 
pered and  cramped  by  the  constitutional  opposition 
of  the  states,  who  very  naturally  grudged  money 
which  was  to  be  forged  into  fetters  for  their  limbs. 
This  "  meddling  "  provoked  Granvelle's  ire.  "  Sire," 
[wrote  he  to  Philip,  "  we  are  often  in  such  embar- 
rassment as  not  to  know  where  to  look  for  ten  duc- 
ats. These  are  very  vile  things,  this  authority 
which  the  dei^uties  assume,  this  audacity  with  which 
they  say  whatever  they  think  projDer,  these  impu- 
dent conditions  which  they  affix  to  any  proposition 
for  supplies."*  The  cardinal  j)rotested  that  he  had 
in  vain  attempted  to  convince  them  of  their  error ; 
but  they  remained  perverse. f 

It  was  while  the  royal  exchequer  was  thus  dis- 
ordered that  the  keen  Venetian  ambassador,  Suri- 
ano,  discovered  that  the  Spanish  court  had  a  plan 
for  debasing  the  coin.  He  hastened  to  communi- 
cate the  news  to  the  doge  :  "  Your  highness,  a  skil- 
ful chemist  named  Malen  has  discovered  a  certain 
powder,  of  which  one  ounce,  mixed  with  six  ounces 
of  quicksilver,  will  make  six  ounces  of  silver.  'T  is 
a  source  of  revenue  hitherto  kept  secret,  on  account 
of  the  opposition  of  the  states  and  the  theologicftl 
scruples  of  the  king.  In  an  exigency  it  may  be 
used."J 

Now  need  we  marvel  that  the  royal  counterfeiter, 
with  bankruptcy  before  him  and  a  chaos  of  debts 

'■^  rapiers  cl'Etat,  torn.  G,  pp.  178-180. 

f  Motley,  uhi  sup.  |  Snriauo,  MS. 


232  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

behind,  resolved  to  exhaust  the  resources  of  his  chi- 
canery before  launching  an  army  upon  the  Nether- 
lands ? 

Philip  loved  to  manoeuvre  and  deceive,  and  in 
this  crisis  he  forbore  to  j)ress  the  installation  of  the 
new  bishops  upon  those  sees  which  manifested  an 
invincible  repugnance  to  their  reception,  muttering, 
"  All  in  time  ;  all  in  good  time  ;"  but  he  confirmed 
those  prelates  who  had  gotten  possession  of  their 
dioceses.*  Meanwhile,  the  resistance  which  the 
abbeys  made  to  the  royal  innovation  compelled  a 
compromise,  by  which  it  was  arranged  that  the 
prelates  were  to  receive  an  annual  stipend  from  the 
revenues  of  the  abbots,  who  were  to  retain  the 
remainder  of  the  ecclesiastical  funds,  and  to 'be 
elected,  as  before,  by  and  from  among  the  monks 
of  the  religious  houses.t  In  the  very  face  of  advan- 
cing despotism,  the  voice  of  the  people  had  cried, 
"  Halt." 

••'  Biaudt,  vol.  1,  p.  134.     Davies,  vol.  1,  p.  510. 

f  Iloofd,  Nederl.  Hist.,  book  1.  Hooper,  JRec.  et  Mem.,  chap.  8. 


THE  INQUISITION.  233 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE   INQUISITION. 

Various  voices  have  united  to  assure  us  that  the 
Inquisition  was  the  chief  agent  of  that  Pharisaical 
tyranny  which  frenzied  the  Netherlands.  No  ques- 
tion but  that  it  was  an  occasion  of  the"  brooding 
revolt.  Strada,  himself  a  loyalist  and  a  Jesuit, 
affirms  it  in  these  words :  "  One  thing  most  of  all 
troubled  and  exasperated,  and  opened  a  door  of 
war  in  the  Low  Countries  ;  at  first  a  suspicion,  and 
then  an  endeavor  of  setting  up  an  Inquisition 
against  heresy."* 

What  wast  the  Inquisition?  what  its  motive? 
what  its  origin  ?  what  its  methods  ?  what  its  instru- 
ments? what  its  influence?  An  analysis  shall  an- 
swer. It  can  only  be  limned  in  the  sternest  colors ; 
but  we  must  not  forget  that  nature's  sternest  painter 
has  been  crowned  the  best. 

*  Strada,  Hist,  of  the  Low  Country  Wars,  p.  32. 

f  It  were  more  fit  to  inquire  what  is  the  Inquisition?  since 
that  abhorrent  paganism  is  to-day  as  active  and  as  vicioiis  as  evei; ; 
still  plotting  to  resurrect  the  blackest  dogmas  of  the  dark  ages  ; 
still  the  most  dangerous,  implacable,  and  ubiquitous  enemy  of 
civil  and  religioiis  Protestantism,  and  only  so  far  changed  by  the 
lapse  of  ages  as  to  cloak  its  purpose  yet  more  closely  in  deceit 
and  fraud  than  it  was  wont  before,  if  that  be  possible.  Biit  Satan 
is  Satan  still,  whether  towering  in  the  clouds  or  ' '  squat  like  a 
toad."  All  who  would  study  this  subject  are  referred  especially 
to  the  able  work  of  Michel t't  and  Qiieuet,  "The  Jesuits,"  and  to 
Achilli's  "Dealings  with  the  Jesuits." 


234:  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

Christianity  was  instituted  as  a  means  to  an  end. 
The  end  was  the  salvation  of  souls ;  the  means, 
what  else  could  they  be  but  the  propagation  of  the 
gospel  ?*  Christ  proclaimed  it  by  the  sea  of  Gali- 
lee; St.  Peter  was  fettered  for  it  in  the  Roman 
dungeons;  St.  Paul  pleaded  for  it  from  the  summit 
of  Mars'  hill,  in  the  face  of  assembled  and  incredu- 
lous Athens;  and  the  precious  seed  they  scattered 
took  such  deep  root,  that  no  heathen  madness  of 
Tiberius,  no  pagan  rage  of  Caligula,  no  ferocity  of 
Nero,  no  Coliseum  fights  under  the  declining  em- 
pire, could  destroy  the  harvest. 

But  success  is  a  harder  test  than  misfortune, 
and  prosperity  is  more  corrupting  than  adversit}-. 
The  church  of  Christ,  long  scourged  and  scorned, 
at  length  assumed  the  purple,  and  ascended  the 
throne  of  the  Ca3sars.  Dizzy  and  debauched  by 
the  transformation,  the  whilom  disciples  of  the  cat- 
acombs put  on  paganism  with  the  mantle  of  the 
emperors,  and  the  prediction  of  the  apostle  was  ful- 
filled :  "  Some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving 
heed  to  seducing  spirits  and  doctrines  of  devils; 
speaking  lies  in  hypocrisy,  having  their  conscience 
seared  with  a  hot  iron."t 

Heedless  of  faith  and  forgetful  of  charity,  church- 
men began  to  arrogate  to  themselves  unwarranted 
and  impious  powers,  distorting  the  Scriptures  into 
sanctioning  their  selfish  ends,  and  foisting  sacrile- 

<>  Matt.  4  :  23  ;  9  :  35  ;  Mark  1 :  14  ;  11 :  5  ;  14  :9  ;  16  :15  ;  Luke 
4  :  IS  ;  9:6;  Acts  10  :  10  ;  Horn.  10  :  15,  etc. 
t  1  Tim.  4  : 1,  2. 


THE  INQUISITION.  235 

gious  dogmas  into  tlie  blameless  text  of  the  apos- 
tles. Clirist  became  an  alien;  was  replaced  by 
saints;  faith  was  smothered  by  a  code  of  works; 
and  images  and  relics,  canvas  daubs,  and  filthy 
rags,  and  pieces  of  thumb-nails,  were  worshipped 
as  very  God.  Good  men  still  lived  and  labored — 
Tertullian,  and  Origen,  and  Justin  the  martyr. 
The  Greek  and  Latin  churches  were  yet  united,  and 
clasped  hands  in  the  persons  of  Ambrosius  and 
Athanasius,  of  Augustine  and  Ohrysostom  of  the 
golden  lips,  as  they  are  made  to  do  under  the  magnif- 
icent altar  of  St.  Peter's  cathedral;  where  four  colos- 
sal bronze  statues,  each  twenty-four  palms  high,  and 
labelled  with  their  names,  sustain  lightly,  and  as  if 
in  triumph,  the  pulpit  of  the  papacy,  splendid  with 
gilded  metal  and  matchless  sculpture.  But  these 
fathers  were  powerless  to  stem  the  torrent  of  abuse. 
Some  of  them,  indeed,  shared  the  grossest  errors 
of  their  times.  Often  Christians  were  stayed  from 
inveighing  against  acknowledged  usurpations  by  a 
dread  of  exciting  scandal :  as  in  that  terrific  scene 
which  Beckford  has  drawn  for  us  in  his  "  Hall  of 
Eblis,"  where  the  crowd  runs  round,  each  man  with 
an  incurable  wound  in  his  bosom-,  and  agrees  not 
to  speak  of  it;  they  went  about  keeping  their  hands 
pressed  on  the  secret  sore,  with  an  understood 
agreement  that  it  should  never  be  mentioned,  lest 
the  church  should  come  to  pieces  at  the  talismanic 
word. 

In  the  East  and  in  the  West  flaunted  unrebuked 
corruption.      Nothing  was   proscribed  but  virtue. 


236  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

When  Cliristianity  became  paganized,  naturally  it 
did  not  scruple  to  use  heathen  weapons.  And  here 
mark,  that  the  rise  of  Christian  persecution  was  con- 
temporaneous with  the  fatal  divergence  of  Chris- 
tianity from  that  path  of  humility  and  faith  and 
charity  in  which  Jesus  had  appointed  it  to  walk, 
with  its  assumption  of  worldly  ]3rerogatives,  and 
with  its  ambitious  and  nnscriptural  arrogance. 

It  was  the  Nicene  council,  convoked  by  Constan- 
tino in  the  fourth  century,  which  first  pronounced 
formal  and  extra-ecclesiastical  judgment  upon  all 
who  refused  to  subscribe  to  its  decrees,  sentencing 
such  "heretics"  to  banishment.*  In  support  of 
this  usurpation,  the  emperor  himself  issued  an  edict 
ordaining  death  to  "  every  one  who  should  conceal 
any  of  Arius'  books,  -and  not  commit  them  to  the 
flames  ;"t  and  a  little  later  he  fulminated  another 
decree,  by  which  the  Arians  were  dej)rived  of  their 
churches,  and  prohibited  from  assembling  even  in 
private  houses. 'I 

Punishments  still  more  severe  were  afterwards 
inflicted  on  those  whose  opinions  the  council  had 
been  pleased  to  condemn;  and  from  pecuniary 
mulcts  they  proceeded  to  the  forfeiture  of  goods,  to 
banishment,  and  to  slaughter.  It  was  a  policy 
actively  pursued  under  the  early  Christian  empe- 
rors— by  Theodosius  II.,  by  Valentinian  III.,  by 

*  Guerin,  Hist,  des  Conciles.  Laiulon,  Councils  of  Holy 
Catholic  Church. 

f  Guerin,  Hist,  des  Conciles. 

I  Ibid.     Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall  of  Eoman  Etnpiro. 


THE  INQUISITION.  237 

Marcian,  and  by  Justinian  J-'  And  upon  tlie  acces- 
sion of  Galens,  an  emperor  of  the  Arian  school, 
these  long-tortured  schismatics  took  in  their  turn  a 
terrible  revenge  upon  the  orthodox.t  The  entire 
century  which  passed  between  the  reign  of  Constan- 
tine  and  the  division  of  the  empire  among  the  chil- 
dren of  Theodosius,  was  spent  in  the  proscription 
of  opinion.  Arianism,  Manichseism,  Paganism,  Eo- 
manism,  but  never  Christianity,  became  successively 
the  religion  of  the  court,  according  to  the  opinion 
adopted  by  the  reigning  prince ;  and  in  this  rage  of 
sect  against  sect  the  interests  of  this  world  and  the 
next  were  alike  forgotten ;  the  decay  of  the  empire 
was  accelerated ;  and  before  the  close  of  the  fiftli 
century  God  moved  a  barbarian  horde  to  wash  out 
in  blood  the  robber  band  at  Kome  which  murdered 
and  poisoned  in  his  holy  name. I 

Out  of  the  chaos  which  succeeded  the  downfall 
of  the  empire,  Kome  evoked  a  new  order — forced 
Europe  to  kneel  before  a  hierarchy  as  absolute  as 
the  priest-caste  of  ancient  Egypt,  as  arrogant  as 
the  Druids  of  Gaul.  As  captive  Greece  is  said  to 
have  subdued  her  Eoman  conqueror,  so  Eome,  in 
her  own  turn  of  servitude,  cast  the  fetters  of  a  moral 
captivity  upon  the  fierce  invaders  of  the  north.§ 

Almost  as  far  back  as  ecclesiastical  testimonies 
can  carry  us,  the  bishops  of  Eome  had  been  ven- 

-  Guerin,  Hist,  cles  Conciles.  t  Ibitl- 

J  Hist,  of  the  Inquisition.    Published  by  J.  Stockdale,  London, 
1810,     Hallam,  Hist.  Middle  Ages,  in  loco. 

§  Hallam,  Hist,  of  Middle  Ages,  vol.  2,  p.  217. 


238  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

erated  as  liigli  iu  rank  among  the  rulers  of  the 
church.  The  nature  of  this  distinction  is  doubtless 
a  very  controverted  subject ;  but  it  is  reduced  by 
some  moderate  Romanists  to  little  more  at  the  out- 
set than  an  honorary  precedency  attached  to  the 
see  of  Eome  in  consequence  of  its  apostolic  founda- 
tion and  its  imperial  dignity.*  It  was  the  Western 
complement  of  the  patriarchates  of  Antioch,  Alex- 
andria, and  afterwards  of  Constantinople  in  the 
East.  A  difference  of  rituals  and  discipline,  to- 
gether with  the  bickerings  born  of  mutual  ambition, 
begat  the  schism  which  definitively  separated  the 
Latin  and  the  Greek  churches  in  the  ninth  centuiy.f 
But  Eome,  foiled  in  the  Orient,  only  redoubled  her 
exertions  to  cement  an  Occidental  empire. 

Starting  with  a  kind  of  general  ecclesiastical 
supervision,  admitted  as  an  attribute  of  their  pri- 
macy,|  the  Latin  bishojDS  eventually  broadened  their 
see  into  the  popedom — that  Sinai  of  the  middle  ages 
which  shot  raj-s  of  flame  from  the  brow  of  Hilde- 
brand  into  the  hearts  of  prostrate  peoples.  But  the 
papacy  was  a  growth,  not  a  creation.  When  the 
bishops  were  merged  in  the  popes,  retaining  noth- 
ing of  Christianity  but  the  name  with  which  to  con- 
jure, they  busied  themselves  wholly,  tirelessly,  iu  the 
usurpation  of  temporal  and  spiritual  power.  When 
they  could  not  bully,  they  wheedled.  Step  by  step 
they  walked  to  dominion.     The  infallibility  of  the 

«  Hallam,  Hist,  of  the  Middle  Ages,  vol.  2,  p.  225.      Cyprian, 
De  Unitate  Ecclesice.  f  Neal,  Eastern  Chnrcb. 

J  Hallam,  uhi  sup. 


THE  INQUISITION.  239 

holy  see  was  claimed  and  acknowledged.  Tlie  con- 
fessional was  set  up  and  submitted  to.  The  church 
councils,  creatures  of  the  popes,  composed  a  grand 
ecclesiastical  code,  under  the  title  of  canons,  which 
should  bind  all  true  believers ;  and  Christendom 
consented  to  be  bound.  Claims  long  disputed,  or 
half  preferred,  began  gradually  to  assume  a  definite 
shape ;  and  nations  too  ignorant  to  compare  prece- 
dents, too  credulous  to  discriminate  principles, 
yielded  to  assertions  confidently  made  by  the  au- 
thority which  they  most  respected — which  explains 
how  it  was  that  Gregory  I.  succeeded  in  establish- 
ing the  appellant  jurisdiction  of  the  see  of  Rome.* 
So  much  and  such  uninterrupted  success  made 
the  holy  see  audacious.  Not  satisfied  with  these 
spiritual  usurpations,  the  pontiffs  began  to  foray 
on  the  border  lands  of  the  ecclesiastical  and  civil 
realms.  Little  by  little  they  acquired  political 
rights,  until,  in  the  end,  the  pope  snatched  the  chil- 
dren of  the  church  from  the  civil  jurisdiction,  and 
assumed  to  set  up  or  depose  kings  by  virtue  of  the 
jus  divinum  of  the  church. f  In  a  rude  and  igno- 
rant age,  the  holy  see  was  irresistible  through  the 
intellectual  superiority  of  its  children,  who  monop- 
olized learning  and  were  the  only  schoolmasters. 
In  a  turbulent  and  chaotic  time,  the  popes  were 
half  omnipotent  through  unity  of  purpose  and  a 
clear  design.  In  this  paralysis  of  society,  any 
kuiglit-errant  of  truth  who  might  venture  to  draw 

*  Gregorii  Opera,  torn.  2,  p.  783.    Edit.  Benedict. 
•f  See  Hallam,  Middle  Ages,  A.rt.  Eccl.  Power,  passim. 


240  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

up  a  catalogue  of  grievances  and  to  clamor  for 
redress,  was  certain  to  be  silenced. 

The  appetite  of  Rome  for  riches  was  as  insatia- 
ble as  her  appetite  for  supremacy;  for  she  knew 
that  wealth  was  the  guarantee  of  power.  "  Many 
of  the  peculiar  and  prominent  characteristics  of 
mediaeval  faith  and  discipline,"  as  Hallam  tells  us, 
"  were  either  introduced  or  sedulously  promoted 
for  purposes  of  fraud.  To  such  an  end  conspired 
the  veneration  of  relics,  the  worship  of  images,  the 
idolatry  of  saints,  the  canonization  of  martyrs,  the 
religious  inviolability  of  sanctuaries,  the  consecra- 
tion of  cemeteries,  the  sale  of  indulgences,  and  the 
twin  absurdities  of  purgatory  and  of  masses  for  the 
relief  of  the  dead.  A  creed  thus  contrived,  opera- 
ting upon  the  minds  of  ignorant  races,  lavish  though 
rapacious,  devout  though  dissolute,  naturally  caused 
a  flood  of  oj)ulence  to  pour  in  upon  the  church."* 

To  these  sources  of  revenue  were  added  the  fee 
simple  of  the  territory  which  bordered  upon  Home, 
which  the  popes  partly  purchased  and  partly  stole 
when  the  barbarians  new-modelled  the  map  of 
Europe :  pious  donations  from  superstitious  death- 
beds, moneys  paid  from  time  to  time  by  warring 
monarchs  to  secure  the  friendship  of  the  successors 
of  St.  Peter,  and  a  score  of  ecclesiastical  imposts 
collected  on  the  various  pretests  of  aiding  the  poor 
and  propagating  the  gospel.t 

Such,  in  rude  outhne,  was  the  rise  of  the  papacy, 
by  ambitious  worldliness,  by  sordid  fraud ;  and  this 
^  Hallam,  xd  antea.  f  Hist,  of  the  Inquisition,  p.  3S. 


THE  INQUISITION.  2il 

•unscrupulous  system  of  aggraudizement  was  cun- 
ningly, unremittingly,  uniformly  pursued  for  up- 
wards of  eleven  centuries  by  the  holy  see,  until 
cajoled  or  overawed  Christendom  made  obeisance 
to  the  pontiff  as  the  arbiter  of  this  life  and  of  the 
life  to  come. 

Authority  gained  by  violence  and  fraud  can 
only  be  sustained  by  violence  and  fraud.  "Do 
men  gather  grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles  ? 
Even  so  every  good  tree  bringeth  forth  good  fruit ; 
but  a  corrupt  tree  bringeth  forth  evil  fruit.  Where- 
fore by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."*  It  was 
to  preserve  a  power  which  was  the  evil  fruit  of  a 
series  of  usurpations  eleven  hundred  years  long, 
that  Eome  had  recourse  to  the  Inquisition.  The 
holy  see  had  commenced  in  its  infant  days  to  ban 
"heresy" — meaning  by  that  epithet  not  to  stigma- 
tize scriptural  error,  but  to  brand  opposition  to  the 
arrogance  of  clerical  government.  Such  "heresy" 
the  papacy  was  eager  to  stamp  out  by  remorseless 
persecution.  The  Inquisition  was  merely  persecu- 
tion systematized — reduced  to  rules  and  supplied 
with  a  code;  therefore  the  Inquisition  was  a  fact, 
before  it  had  a  recognized  existence;  and  we  may 
see  its  spirit  in  the  resolutions  of  the  Nicene  coun- 
cil, in  the  edicts  of  the  Christian  Coesars,  in  the 
canons  of  the  church,  and  in  the  decretals  of  the 
popes  ages  before  it  had  "  a  local  habitation  and  a 
name." 

The  Inquisition  has  had  three  phases,  each  a 
«-  Matt.  7:1G,  17,  20. 

Dutcli  Rer.  11 


242  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

development — the  episcopal,  tlie  papal,  the  Spanish. 
The  episcopal  was  the  embryonic  phase. 

A  variety  of  concurrent  circumstances,  the  com- 
mand of  Christ,  and  the  necessities  of  an  insular 
and  persecuted  society,*  gave  the  primitive  Chris- 
tian pastors  an  arbitrative  authority  in  church 
affairs ;  and  even  after  Christianity  became  the 
religion  of  the  empire,  Christians  continued  to  feel 
a  strong  aversion  to  appeals  to  the  imperial  tribu- 
nals for  the  settlement  of  their  mutual  differences. 
This  trait  was  among  the  first  to  mirror  the  corrup- 
tion which  entered  ecclesiasticism  when  the  apostles 
were  laid  asleep.  Selfishness  and  ambition  led  the 
early  bishops  to  stretch  this  arbitrative  jurisdiction 
to  unwonted  lengths;  in  which  design  Constantice 
powerfully  assisted  them  by  issuing  an  edict  which 
directed  the  civil  magistrate  to  enforce  the  execu- 
tion of  episcopal  sentences.! 

A  little  later,  another  decree  was  trumped  up, 
annexed  to  the  Theodosiau  code,  and  ascribed  to^ 
Constantino,  which  went  farther,  and  extended  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  bishops  to  all  causes,  ecclesiasti- 
cal or  lay,  which  the  parties  in  litigation,  or  either 
of  them,  chose  to  refer  to  their  tribunal,  even  when 
suit  had  been  already  commenced  in  a  secular 
court.  J 

This  gross  forgery§  was*[3almed  off  upon  Charle- 
magne as  a  legitimate  institute,  and  he  legalized 

«  Discourse  of  Flet;ry.     Institutions  du  Droit  Ecclesiastique. 

t  Ibid. 

X  HiilLim.  vol.  2.  pp.  213.  ^  Ibid. 


THE  INQUISITION.  213 

it  by  repeating  all  its  absurd  and  enormous  provis- 
ions in  one  of  bis  capitularies.*  For  a  time  this 
bastard  prerogative,  thus  legitimatized  by  fraud, 
was  permitted  to  sleep ;  but  at  last  it  was  awakened 
to  give  countenance  to  the  coercive  control  which 
\he  holy  see  began  to  claim  over  the  clergy  in  civil 
as  in  criminal  suits ;  to  sanction  the  complete  with- 
drawal of  ecclesiastics  from  the  secular  jurisdiction, 
and  to  cloak  the  ceaseless  efforts  which  were  being 
made  to  subject  the  temporal  power  to  the  spiritual 
sovereignty  of  the  pontiffs.t 

From  these  claims  to  an  assumption  of  the  right 
to  punish  all  offences  against  religion  was  bat  a 
step,  and  it  was  soon  taken.  Such  offences  were 
tried  before  the  metropolitan  of  the  diocese  in  which 
they  occurred,  and  the  secular  arm  was  invoked  to 
enforce  the  sentence  of  the  prelate-judge.'! 

This  was  the  earliest  form  of  procedure  against 
ecclesiastical  offenders — the  form  of  the  Episcopal 
Inquisition.  It  was  this  germ  which  eventually 
expanded  into  the  Papal  Inquisition. 

.Innocent  III.,  whose  thunders  stunned  Philtp 
Augustus  and  John,  surnamed  Lackland,  the  inglo- 
rious usurper  of  .the  EngHsh  crown;  whose  auda- 
cious pride  had  laid  France  under  an  interdict, 
because  Phihp  repudiated  his  wife  lugelburge,  and 
absolved  England  from  the  oath  of  fidelity  because 
John  did  not,  as  he  thought,  pay  sufficient  respect 

•-■  Hallani,  vol.  2,  p.  213.     Baluzzi,  Capitularia,  torn.  1,  d.  985. 
I  Hallain,  Middle  Ages,  Art.  Eccl.  Power,  passim. 
J  Limbook,  Hist.  Inq.,  liber  1,  chap.  10 


24:4  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

to  the  lights  of  the  clergy;  this  pope,  whose  in- 
trigues and  whose  arms  had  seized  upon  the  sov- 
ereignty of  Umbria,  of  La  Marcha,  of  Ancona,  of 
Orbitello,  of  Viterbo,  and  of  the  entire  Eomagna; 
whose  despotism  had  robbed  the  Eoman  senate  of 
its  ancient  rights,  and  made  it  a  subservient  hercT 
of  slaves ;  whose  enterprising  rashness  had  rav- 
ished from  the  German  emperors  the  honorary 
prerogatives  which  they  held  in  the  capital  of  the 
Christian  world,  the  remains  of  the  power  of  Char- 
lemagne, that  benefactor  of  the  holy  see,  so  out- 
raged in  the  persons  of  his  successors — Innocent 
III.  it  was,  whose  pontificate,  fatal  to  the  human 
race,  witnessed  the  establishment  and  enforced  the 
recognition  of  the  Papal  Inquisition ;  and  gave  birth 
to  the  Dominicans,  the  kindlers  of  so  many  perse- 
cuting fires,  and  to  the  Franciscans,  those  lazy 
blood-suckers  who  fattened  on  the  wealth  of  states 
and  on  the  toils  of  the  unfortunate.* 

In  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the 
southern  slopes  of  France  were  inhabited  by  the 
Provencals,  a  race  pacific,  learned,  wealthy,  astute.t 
Wedded  to  the  Yaudois  tenets,  which  bore  the 
impress  of  the  apostolic  teachings,  the  Proven9als 
scouted  the  pretensions  of  Rome,  refuted  the  papal 
missionaries  from  their  open  Bibles,  and  offered 
prayer  to  God  without  the  mediation  of  saints  and 
priests.  Criminals  buying  Paradise  for  money; 
monks  spending  the  revenues  thus  gotten  in  gaming- 

-  Hist,  of  the  Inquisition,  pp.  42,  43. 

t  Vide  Hist,  of  the  Huguenots,  chap.  2,  Am.  T.  Soc,  18CG. 


THE  INQUISITION.  215 

houses,  in  taverns,  in  brothels ;  and  popes  lavishing- 
the  funds  of  the  church  on  their  wines  and  stables 
and  hawks  and  mistresses — all  this  seemed  to  their 
unsophisticated  minds  to  be  a  gross  violation  of 
the  Divine  law,  and  tliey  searched  in  vain  to  find  a 
warrant  for  it  in  the  Scriptures.* 

Pope  Innocent  undertook  to  enlighten  them  by 
the  fagot  and  the  stake.  An  inquisitorial  commis- 
sion, headed  by  a  Spanish  monk  called  Dominic, 
wliose  name  w^as  afterwards  enrolled  among  the 
Roman  saints,  advanced  into  the  heretical  prov- 
inces armed  with  authority  to  convert  the  erring, 
ascertain  their  numbers,  spy  out  the  disposition  of 
the  Proven9als,  spur  the  lagging  magistrates  to  the 
performance  of  their  penal  duties,  and  sound  the 
views  of  the  local  prelates  to  see  if  haply  they 
might  not  be  infected  with  Yaudoisism.f  This,  at 
the  outset,  was  the  extent  of  their  power;  they 
were  only  a  kind  of  peripatetic  inquisition  on  the 
old  Episcopal  pattern. 

A  very  short  sojourn  in  Languedoc  convinced 
these  inquisitors  of  the  hopelessness  of  their  mis- 
sion. The  heresy  was  deeply  rooted  and  wide- 
spread. The  Vaudois  overmatched  them  at  con- 
troversy. When  they  appealed  to  the  bishops,  and 
urged  the  sentence  of  the  incorrigible,  lukewarm 
prelates  often  hesitated  to  pronounce  a  verdict ; 
when  they  did,  sympathizing  magistrates  defeated 
its  execution  by  legal  quibbling.| 

"'-  Limbock,  Hist.  Inq.     Hist.  Hngueiiots,  id  nntea.       f  Ibid. 
J  Sisiuoudi,  Hist,  of  the  Albigenses.     Limbock.  Hist.  Inq. 


2^6  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

This  resistance  angered  Innocent ;  and  breath- 
ing fire  and  slaughter,  he  launched  a  crusade  upon 
the  sunn}'  Provengal  plains,  and  at  once  erected 
the  ancient  ecclesiastical  superintendence  into  a 
separate,  independent,  irresponsible  tribunal,  which 
he  called  the  Inquisition.*  Then,  to  make  sure  that 
no  human  sensibility,  no  natural  tenderness,  should 
thwart  the  frightful  severity  of  this  horrid  court, 
whose  jurisdiction  covered  all  offences  against  reli- 
gion, he  took  it  out  of  the  hands  of  the  bishops, 
who,  by  the  ties  of  civil  life,  were  still  too  much 
attached  to  hiimanity  for  his  purpose;  and  con- 
signed it  to  the  monks,  a  half-denaturalized  horde, 
who  had  abjured  the  feelings  of  men,  and  sworn 
themselves  into  unquestioning  subserviency  to  the 
holy  see.f 

Years  passed,  and  this  court,  which  had  reduced 
murder  to  a  fine  art,  having  completed  the  butchery 
of  the  Vaudois,  passed  into  Germany,  into  Italy, 
into  France,  into  Spain;  finding  few  states  bold 
enough  to  bar  its  entrance,  marking  its  pathway 
with  ghastly  heaps  of  dead  men's  bones. 

But  frightful  as  it  was,  the  papal  inquisition 
was  only  the  half-way  house  of  fanaticism — only  a 
milestone,  showing  how  far  persecution  had  trav- 
elled; the  Spanish  type  was  the  end  of  the  jour- 
ney— necessarily  the  end,  for  weary  bigotry  could 
take  no  farther  step. 

In  the  eighth  century,  the  Saracens,  attracted 

*  Sismondi,  Hist,  of  the  Albigeuse.s.     Limbock,  Hist.  Inq. 
t  Schiller. 


THE   INQUISITION.  247 

by  tlie  smiling  aud  fertile  soil  of  the  ancient  Iberia, 
crossed  from  Arabia  and  tore  Spain  from  the  bar- 
barian hands  of  the  Visigoths,  to  whom  Honorius 
had  surrendered  it.*  Bringing  with  them  the  Ori- 
ent splendor  of  the  Ottoman  empire,  the  Moors 
gradually  changed  the  rudeness  of  the  forests  into 
the  polish  of  the  Arabian  courts ;  and  the  African 
cloak  and  the  Tunisian  albornos,  the  Koran  and 
the  Moslem  cimetar,  heralded  a  civilization  as  ro- 
mantic as  it  was  unique.t  The  land  itself  was 
transformed,  Avrought  up  to  wonderful  prosperity, 
embroidered  with  gardens,  sheeted  with  grain- 
fields,  clothed  with  orchards  and  vineyards  from 
sterile  mountain-top  to  verdant  valley 4  Letters 
too  were  ardently  cultivated,  philosophy  had  its 
schools,  poetry  had  its  disciples,  and  the  Morisco 
universities  of  Cordova  and  Seville  were  thronged 
by  Occidental  as  well  as  by  Eastern  students,  anx- 
ious to  acquaint  themselves  with  the  Magian  and 
Chaldean  lore.§  Christian  Spain,  entrenched  in 
the  northern  mountains,  grew  a  degree  less  bar- 
barous by  imitation ;  until  at  last  the  polished  infi- 
dels insensibly  imparted  their  burning  civilization 
to  the  primitive  tribes  —  gave  them  every  thing 
except  their  altars. 

But  the  Spaniards,  while  animated  by  the  exam- 
ple of  the  Moors,  bitterly  resented  their  intrusion 

«  Flavian,  Hist,  of  the  Moor.s  of  Spain.  Murphy,  Mahome- 
tan Empii'e  in  Spain. 

f  Irving,  Conquest  of  Grenada.  Trescott,  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella. X  Ibid. 

§  Ibid.     Sismondi,  Literature  of  the  South  of  Europe. 


248  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

into  tlie  peninsula;  and  an  incessant  conflict  was 
tlie  result,  a  conflict  which  became  a  chronic  cru- 
sade, and  which  culminated,  towards  the  close  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  in  the  total  overthrow  of  the 
alien  domination  in  the  reign  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella.* 

The  Moriscoes  were  given  their  choice  between 
exile  and  conversion  to  the  Roman  faith;  and  it 
was  to  enforce  this  decree  that  the  Inquisition  was 
invoked.!  Thousands  of  faithful  Mahometans  re- 
passed the  straits  of  Gibraltar  into  Africa;  but  other 
thousands,  detained  by  a  passionate  attachment  to 
their  homes — for  the  Moors  had  been  seated  in 
Spain  eight  hundred  years,  a  period  longer  than 
that  which  has  elapsed  since  the  Norman  conquest 
of  Great  Britain — purchased  remission  from  the 
dreadful  necessity  of  expatriation  by  a  show  of  con- 
version, and  continued  to  serve  Mahomet  at  Chris- 
tian altars. 

But  "  so  long  as  pra3'ers  were  offered  towards 
Mecca,  Granada  was  not  subdued ;  so  long  as  the 
dusky  proselyte  was  a  Christian  only  in  public,  and 
became  again  a  Moslem  in  the  retirement  of  his 
own  dwelling,  he  was  secured  neither  to  the  throne 
nor  to  the  Roman  see.  It  was  no  longer  deemed 
sufficient  to  compel  a  perverse  people  to  adopt  the 
exterior  forms  of  a  new  faith,  or  to  wed  them  to  the 
victorious  church  by  the  weak  bands  of  ceremoni- 
als ;  the  object  was  to  extirpate  the  roots  of  the  old 
creed,  and  to  subdue  the  obstinate  bias  which,  by 
■»  Prescott,  uhi  supra.  f  Limbock,  Hist.  Liq. 


THE  INQUISITION.  249 

the  slow  operation  of  centuries,  had  been  phinted 
in  the  Moriscoe  manners  and  language  and  laws, 
and  by  the  enduring  influence  of  dear,  familiar 
objects  was  still  maintained  in  its  pristine  vigor."* 

The  Papal  Inquisition  was  found  unequal  to  this 
task;  therefore  the  old  forms  Avere  new-modelled 
and  wrought  up  to  perfection,  and  the  Spanish  In- 
quisition was  the  result — an  institution  invested 
with  the  fcost  comj)lete  apparatus  for  inflicting 
human  misery  and  for  appalling  the  human  imagi- 
nation. 

It  owed  its  existence  to  two  monks — Torque- 
mada,  a  Dominican,  and  Ximenes^  a  Cordelier,  each 
in  turn  the  confessor  of  Queen  Isabella,  the  first  in 
her  childhopd,  the  other  after  her  ascension  of  the 
throne. t  Singularly  enough,  the  motive  of  this 
"  couple "  in  the  hunt  for  heresy  was  not  fanati- 
cism. 

Torquemada  was  inspired  by  a  malignant  hate 
of  the  Moors  begotten  of  an  amour  at  Cordova, 
where  his  inamorita  was  snatched  away  from  him 
by  a  fascinating  Moslem  and  carried  off  in  triumph 
to  Granada.:]:  The  revenge  for  which  he  agonized 
was  reinforced  b}^  ambition.  Desirous  of  drawing 
to  himself  the  favors  of  the  pope,  and  of  securing  an 
oftice  independent  of  the  oscillating  favor  of  the 
king,  he  used  his  influence  with  Isabella  so  well 

«•  Schiller,  p.  395. 

t  Llorente,  Hist,  of  the  Inq.     Prescott,  Ferd.  and  I.sabelhi. 
J  Hist,  of  the  luquisitiou,  i)iiblished  by  J.  J.  Stockdale,  Lou- 
don,  1810. 


250  THE  DUTCH  KEFORMATION. 

that,  "  squat  like  a  toad "  at  her  ear,  he  persuaded 
her  into  the  adoption  of  the  most  horrid  features 
of  the  new  inquisition  by  alarming  her  for  her  sal- 
vation, and  was  himself  the  first  Moloch  to  be 
placed  upon  this  pedestal  of  blood.* 

Ximenes  had  a  somewhat  similar  motive  for  his 
support  of  the  Spanish  inquisition.  A  prelate  of 
imperious,  sordid,  and  cruel  temper,  he  had  aspired 
to  become  prime-minister  of  Spain,  and  he  attained 
the  dignity — a  success  which  made  him  detested  by 
the  nobles  whose  pomp  he  eclipsed,  hated  by  the 
people  whom  he  oppressed,  and  bitterly  reviled  by 
the  monks  whose  manners  he  had  attempted  to 
reform.  So  circumstanced,  he  saw  safety  alone  in 
countenancing  the  Inquisition ;  in  doing  which  his 
great  object  was,  not  to  extirpate  heresy,  not  to 
burn  Jews — heretical  opinions  were  of  small  impor- 
tance to  him,  and  he  would  have  preferred  to  let 
the  Shylocks  live  that  he  might  plunder  them  when 
they  were  rich — but  to  secure  a  weapon  which  he 
could  silently,  unexpectedly  plunge  into  the  hearts 
of  his  foes,  and  to  have  at  his  beck  a  tribunal  whose 
authority  might  assail  the  throne  itself,  if  need 
were — a  court  possessing  the  power,  in  the  name  of 
God,  to  penetrate  into  every  corner  of  Spain,  and 
ferret  out  those  victims  whom  he  had  resolved  to 
sacrifice  to  his  security.f  Torquemada  regarded  the 
Inquisition  merely  as  a  ladder  up  which  he  could 
climb  to  vengeance,  and  the  highest  honors  of  the 

"  Hist,  of  the  luquisition,  piablislied  by  J.  J.  Stockdale,  Lon- 
dou.  1810.  t  Hist,  of  the  Inquisition,  p.  113,  et  seq. 


THE  INQUISITION.  251 

church;  Ximeues  used  it  as  a  rampart  to  guard 
those  dignities  which  he  had  abeady  grasped. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  spiteful  ambition  of  a  Do- 
minican, and  the  selfish  pride  of  a  Cordelier,  begot 
and  nourished  the  most  frightful  and  the  latest  form 
of  the  Inquisition.  The  pious  caprice  of  a  woman, 
the  spite  of  a  licentious  monk,  the  venomous  wiles 
of  a  cardinal,  the  speculations  of  a  priest-^such 
were  the  wheels  on  which  rolled  the  destiny  of 
Christendom  in  those  "good  old  times"  of  which 
poets  sing. 

So  much  shall  sufiice  to  show  the  triple  origin 
of  the  Inquisition.  But  no  acquaintance  with  its 
motive  and  its  origin  can  paint  it  to  our  minds;  if 
we  would  know  what  it  was,  we  must  see  it  at  work. 

The  Inquisition  was  a  machine  for  inquiring  into 
men's  thoughts,  and  a  court  of  punishment  when 
that  examination  proved  unsatisfactory.  Naturally 
it  affected  mystery,  like  the  cuckoo  in  the  fable, 
delivered  its  oracular  decrees  from  its  hole  in  the 
rock;  for  Home  was  perfect  master  of  the  art  of 
dramatic  effect,  and  the  popes  knew  Avell  that  a 
secret,  mysterious,  always  impending  danger  is  the 
most  freezing  of  horrors. 

This  hell,  invented  by  priests,  had  its  head-quar- 
ters at  Home,  in  what  was  blasphemously  styled  the 
"  Holy  Office,"  an  office  holy  only  by  that  classical 
figure  of  speech  which  names  a  thing  from  some- 
thing which  it  lacks,  as  the  dreadful  fates  were  said 
to  be  merciful  because  they  were  without  mercy  ;  or 
like  that  kindred  extravagance  which  that  remark- 


'252  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

able  traveller  in  China,  the  Abb6  Hue,  relates  of  a 
gloomy  hole  in  which  he  was  lodged,  pestered  by 
mosquitoes  and  exhaling  noisome  vapors,  where 
light  and  air  entered  only  through  a  single  narrow 
aperture,  but  called  by  Chinese  pride,  "  The  Hotel 
of  the  Beatitudes." 

The  Inquisition  was,  as  we  have  seen,  a  tribunal 
owning  allegiance  to  no  temporal  authority,  supe- 
rior to  all  other  courts — -a  bench  of  monks  without 
appeal,  having  its  familiars  in  every  house,  diving 
into  the  secrets  of  every  fireside,  judging  and  exe- 
cuting without  responsibility,  condemning  not  deeds, 
but  thoughts,  and  affecting  to  descend  into  the  indi- 
vidual conscience  for  the  purpose  of  inquiry  and 
punishment." 

It  professed  to  believe  that  the  end  sanctifies 
the  means ;  and  it  was  built  upon  one  princijDle — 
mutual  surveillance,  mutual  denunciation,  perfect 
contempt  for  human  nature.  Society  was  reduced 
to  a  vast  and  terrible  espionage.  Comrades  were 
compelled  to  spy  upon  each  other,  observe  every 
action,  note  every  unguarded  expression  of  familiar 
conversation.  Every  priest  was  an  informer,  and 
tlie  confessor  was  spied  upon  by  his  penitent — police 
and  counter-police.  A  woman  often  served  as  a 
spy  upon  two  different  men  by  turns,  men  mad  with 
jealousy  of  each  other — hell  beneath  hell.  Where 
is  the  Dante  who  would  have  found  that  out  ?t 

"Worse  still :  with  regard  to  these  denunciations, 

"  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  323. 

f  Michelet  and  Quinet,  The  Jesuits,  p.  50. 


THE  INQUISITION.  253 

the  Inquisition  declared  tliat  it  was  the  positive, 
bounden  duty  of  every  one  to  become  an  accuser  in 
matters  of  offence  against  rehgion.  Children  were 
bidden  to  denounce  their  parents,  wives  their  hus- 
bands, servants  their  masters ;  and  there  are  mul- 
titudes of  well-authenticated  instances  of  such- 
frightful  domestic  treachery  —  treason  robed  as 
pious  duty,  and  performed  under  penalty  of  excom- 
munication ;*  for  the  law  was,  according  to  the 
decrees  of  numbers  of  the  popes,  that  whoever  be- 
came acquainted  with  an  offence  against  the  faith, 
whether  from  personal  knowledge  or  from  hearsay, 
was  bound,  within  fifteen  days,  to  bring  forward  an 
accusation  before  an  inquisitor,  or  the  vicar  of  the 
hol}^  office  ;  or,  where  these  were  not  present,  before 
a  bishop  ;t  otherwise  the  crime,  whatever  it  might 
be,  attached  not  only  to  the  principal  and  his  accom- 
plices, but  also  to  all  who  knew  it  and  did  not 
reveal  it.:|: 

And  in  order  to  facilitate  denunciation,  the 
Inquisition  withheld  the  names  of  the  accusers 
from  the  accused,  and  practiced  the  most  careful 
secrecy  in  that  vital  matter — a  procedure  which 
often  sunk  the  holy  office  into  the  mere  vehicle  on 
which  private  vengeance  rode  to  secure  triumph ; 
for  it  was  a  bounty  on  denunciation,  and  men  might 
safely  gratify  their  personal  grudges  where  they 
were  not  brought  face  to  face  with  their  victims.§ 

*  Achilli,  Dealings  with  the  Inquisition,  p.  84.    New  York,  1851. 
f  Ibid.     Llorente,  Hist,  of  the  Inquisition.  f  Ibid. 

§  Hist,  of  the  Inq.     Achilli,  a  converted  Komanist,  formerly 


254  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

Moreover,  since  society  was  an  incarnate  spy,  and 
since  to  know  of  an  offence  and  not  to  denounce  it 
was  to  be  guilty  of  it,  awful  fear  transformed  thou- 
sands into  accusers  that  they  might  themselves 
escape  denunciation  ;  for  even  inanimate  objects 
seemed  endowed  with  prescience — ^every  wall,  every 
building,  every  tree  was  a  head  and  face  hearing 
and  seeing,  for  ever  hidden,  sealed,  immovable. 

What  the  inquisitors  could  not  learn  by  terror, 
they  wormed  out  of  men  and  women  by  compla- 
cence. Assuming  the  role  of  everybody's  friend, 
they  invited  all  who  desired  office,  all  Avho  wished 
for  help,  to  apply  to  them.  Masters  were  supplied 
Avith  valets,  families  Avere  supplied  witli  servants,  all 
without  charge ;  and  when  the  courteous,  zealous 
gentlemen,  who  asked  nothing  for  their  services, 
and  who  chatted  so  pleasantly,  desired  to  know  the 
news,  was  it  possible  to  resist  the  inclination  to 
detail  the  transactions  and  to  recite  the  gossip  of 
society?* 

Sworn  to  the  degradation  of  the  understanding 
and  the  murder  of  the  intellect,  the  agents  employ- 
ed by  the  Inquisition  were  terror  and  infamy. 
Every  evil  passion  was  in  its  pay ;  its  snare  was  set 
in  every  joy  of  life.  It  prostrated  all  the  instincts 
of  humanity  before  it ;  it  yielded  all  the  ties  which 
men  held  most  sacred.   A  heretic  forfeited  all  claims 

high  in  office  at  Rome,  and  cognizant  of  the  facts,  gives  instances 
of  this  kind,  as  also  of  the  denunciation  of  husbands  by  their 
wives — facts  which  came  within  his  own  observation.  See  pp. 
85,  80,  et  seq. 

*  Achilli,  ut  antea. 


THE  INQUISITION.  255 

upon  the  race ;  the  most  trivial  iufidelity  to  Rome 
divested  him  of  the  rights  of  human  nature.  A 
modest  doubt  of  the  infaUibiUty  of  the  pope  met 
Avith  the  punishment  of  parricide  and  the  infamy  of 
sodomy :  its  sentences  resembled  the  frightful  cor- 
ruption of  the  plague,  which  turns  the  most  healthy 
Jbody  into  rapid  putrefaction.  Even  the  inanimate 
things  belonging  to  a  heretic  were  accursed ;  its 
decrees  were  enforced  against  pictures  and  against 
corpses,  so  that  the  grave  itself  was  no  asylum  from 
its  tremendous  arm,* 

The  code  of  the  Inquisition,  with  all  the  punish- 
ments for  every  supposed  crime,  together  with  the 
mode  of  conducting  the  trial  so  as  to  elicit  the  guilt 
of  the  accused — all  this  is  contained  in  a  large  man- 
uscript volume,  in  folio,  carefully  preserved  by  the 
head  of  the  holy  office,  and  styled  Praxis  Sacrce 
Romance.  Inquisitionis,  and  sometimes  Libro  Negro, 
the  Black  Book,  because  it  has  a  cover  of  that  color ; 
or,  as  an  inquisitor  once  said,  Libro  Necro,  "the  book 
of  the  dead."t 

Let  us  open  this  horrid  volume  and  acquaint 
ourselves  with  what  Tacitus  called  "  the  secrets  of 
the  kingdom" — arcana  imperii.  Concerning  the 
method  of  conducting  a  process,  we  read  these 
words  in  the  Black  Book  : 

=  Schiller. 

f  In  the  revolutiou  of  1818,  wheu  the  holy  office  -was  entered 
iiucl  rifled  by  the  mob,  this  book  was  discovered,  and  Achilli  actu- 
ally held  it  in  his  hands.     The  explanation  given  in  the  text  is  the 
•ne  made  to  him  by  one  of  the  inqiiisitors  on  that  occasion.     VkU, 
Dealings  with  the  Inquisition,"  pp.  12-81. 


256  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

"  With  respect  to  the  examination  and  the  duty 
of  the  examiners,  either  the  prisoner  confesses 
and  is  proved  guilty  by  his  own  confession,  or  he 
does  not  confess  and  is  equally  guilty  on  the  evi- 
dence of  witnesses.  If  a  prisoner  confesses  the 
whole  of  what  he  is  accused  of,  he  is  unquestion- 
ably guilty  of  the  whole  ;  but  if  he  confesses  only  a 
part,  he  ought  still  to  be  regarded  as  guilty  of  the 
Avhole,  since  what  he  has  confessed  proves  him  to 
be  capable  of  guilt  as  to  the  other  points  of  the 
accusation.  And  here  the  precept  is  to  be  kept  in 
view  :  '  no  one  is  obliged  to  condemn  himself ' — nemo 
iendur  se  ipsum  prodere.  Nevertheless,  the  judge 
should  do  all  in  his  power  to  induce  the  culprit 
to  confess,  since  confession  tends  to  the  glory  of 
God.  And  as  the  respect  due  to  the  glory  of  God 
requires  that  no  one  particular  should  be  omitted, 
the  judge  is  bound  to  put  in  force  not  only  the 
ordinary  means  which  the  Inquisition  affords,  but 
whatever  may  enter  his  thoughts  as  fitting  to 
lead  to  confession.  Bodily  torture  has  ever  been 
found  the  most  salutary  and  efficient  means  of 
leading  to  spiritual  repentance.  Therefore  the 
choice  of  the  most  befitting  mode  of  torture  is 
left  to  the  judge  of  the  Inquisition,  who  deter- 
mines according  to  the  age,  sex,  and  constitution 
of  the  prisoner.  He  will  be  prudent  in  its  use, 
always  being  mindful  at  the  same  time  to  procure 
what  is  required — the  confession  of  the  delinquent. 
If,  notwithstanding  all  the  means  employed,  the 
unfortunate  wretch  denies  his  guilt,  he  is  to  be  con- 


THE  INQUISITION.  267 

sidered  as  a  victim  of  tlie  devil,  and  as  such,  de- 
serves no  compassion  from  the  servants  of  God,  nor 
the  pity  or  indulgence  of  holy  mother  church :  he  is 
a  son  of  perdition.  Let  him  perish,  then,  among 
the  damned,  and  let  his  place  be  no  longer  found 
among  the  living."* 

This  astounding  page  is  followed  by  another,  in 
which  the  mode  of  attaining  a  conviction  is  given 
in  sickening  detail.  "  The  rack  was  the  court  of 
justice ;  the  criminal's  only  advocate  was  his  forti- 
tude; for  the  nominal  counsellor,  who  was  permitted 
no  communication  with  the  prisoner,  and  was  fur- 
nished neither  with  documents  nor  with  power  to 
procure  rebutting  evidence,  was  a  puppet,  aggra- 
vating the  lawlessness  of  the  proceedings  by  the 
mockery  of  legal  forms.  The  unhappy  victim, 
arrested  on  suspicion,  accused  perhaps  by  his  son 
or  father  or  wife ;  consigned  to  a  cell,  and  broken 
by  famine  and  misery  and  confinement ;  knowing 
that  one  unknown  witness  could  send  him  to  the 
rack,  and  two  could  consign  him  to  the  fire,  was 
summoned  at  last  to  confess.  If  he  was  innocent, 
he  had  nothing  to  confess ;  yet  the  law  held  him 
guilty,  and  refused  to  give  him  an  opportunity  to 
prove  his  innocence,  an  avowal  of  which  was  an 
invocation  of  the  rack.  The  torture  took  place  at 
midnight,  in  a  gloomy  dungeon  dimlj'-  lighted  by 
torches.  The  victim — whether  man,  matron,  or 
tender  virgin — was  stripped  naked,  and  stretched 
on  the  wooden  bench.  Water,  weights,  fires,  pulleys, 
»  Cited  in  Achilli,  pp.  82,  83. 


258  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

screws — all  the  infernal  apparatus  by  which  the 
sinews  could  be  strained  without  cracking,  the 
bones  crushed  Avithout  breaking,  and  the  body- 
racked  exquisitely  without  giving  up  its  ghost,  was 
there  put  in  operation.  The  executioners,  envel- 
oped in  black  robes  from  head  to  foot,  with  eyes 
glaring  through  holes  cut  in  the  hoods  which  muf- 
fled their  faces,  practiced  successively  all  the  forms 
of  torture  which  the  deviHsh  ingenuity  of  the  monks 
had  invented."* 

If  from  the  quivering  lips  of  the  mangled  victim 
no  confession  could  be  wrung,  he  was  sentenced  to 
be  burfied  alive.  The  presumptuous  arrogance  of 
this  decree  could  only  be  surpassed  by  the  inhu- 
manity with  which  it  was  executed.  By  coupling 
the  ludicrous  with  the  terrible,  and  by  amusing  the 
eye  with  the  strangeness  of  the  spectacle,  it  weak- 
ened compassion  by  the  gratification  of  another 
feeling ;  it  drowned  sympathy  in  derision  and  con- 

tempt.t 

Usually  "the  number  of  condemned  prisoners 
was  allowed  to  accumulate,  that  a  multitude  of  vic- 
tims might  grace  each  gala-day.  The  act  of  faith — 
auto  dafe — was  a  noted  festival.  The  monarch,  the 
high  functionaries  of  the  land,  the  reverend  clergy, 
the  populace,  regarded  it  as  an  inspiring  and  de- 
lightful j.-ecreation.  When  the  appointed  morning 
arrived,  the  victims  were  taken  from  their  dun- 
geons. Each  one  was  attired  in  a  yellow  robe 
without  sleeves,  like  a  herald's  coat,  covered  with 

e  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  323.  t  Schiller. 


THE  INQUISITION.  259 

figures  of  black  devils.  A  large  conical  paper  mitre 
was  placed  upon  each  head,  surmounted  by  a  hu- 
man figure,  around  whiph  played  lambent  flames, 
and  ghastly  demons  flitted.  Each  mouth  was  pain- 
fully gagged,  so  that  it  could  neither  be  opened  nor 
shut.  Thus  accoutred,  and  just  as  the  prisoners 
left  their  cells,  a  breakfast,  consisting  of  every  deli- 
cacy, was  placed  before  them,  and  they  were  urged 
with  ironical  pohteness  to  satisfy  their  hunger.  All 
were  then  led  forth  into  the  public  square.  The 
procession  was  formed  with  pomp.  It  was  headed 
by  little  school-children,  who  were  immediately  fol- 
lowed by  the  band  of  prisoners,  attired  horribly  yet 
ludicrously.  Then  came  the  magistracy  and  the 
nobles,  the  prelates,  and  the  dignitaries  of  the 
church.  The  holy  inquisitors,  with  their  ofiicials 
and  familiars,  followed  on  horseback,  with  the 
blood -red  flag  of  the  holy  office  waving  above 
them,  blazoned  on  either  side  with  the  portraits 
of  Pope  Alexander  and  King  Ferdinand,  the  pair 
of  brothers  who  had  established  the  new  form  of 
the  Inquisition.  After  the  procession  came  the 
rabble. 

"When  all  had  reached  the  scafl'old,  a  sermon 
was  preached  to  the  assembled  multitude.  It  was 
filled  with  laudations  of  the  holy  tribunal,  and  with 
blasphemous  revilings  of  the  condemned  heretics. 
Then  the  sentences  were  read  to  the  individual  vic- 
tims ;  after  which  the  clergy  chanted  the  fifty-first 
psalm,  the  whole  vast  throng  joining  in  one  tre- 
mendous miserere.     If  a  priest  was  among  the  cul- 


260  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

prits,  lie  was  stripped  of  the  canonicals  which  he 
had  hitherto  worn,  while  his  hands,  lips,  and  shaven 
crown  were  scraped  with  a.  bit  of  glass,  by  which 
process  the  oil  of  his  consecration  was  supposed 
to  be  removed.  He  was  then  thrust  into  the  com- 
mon herd.  Then  all  mounted  the  scaffold,  where 
the  executioner  stood  ready  to  conduct  them  to  the 
fire  blazing  just  at  hand ;  and  into  his  hands  the 
inquisitors  delivered  their  charge,  with  an  ironical 
request  that  he  would  deal  with  them  tenderly  and 
without  blood-letting  or  injury.  Then  those  who 
remained  steadfast  to  the  last  were  burned  at  the 
stake ;  and  they  who  in  the  last  extremity  renounced 
their  '  errors,'  were  strangled  before  being  cast  into 
the  flames."* 

On  these  occasions  the  king  was  often  present ; 
he  sat  with  uncovered  head,  in  a  lower  chair  than 
that  of  the  grand-inquisitor,  to  whom  he  yielded 
precedence.  Who,  then,  would  not  tremble  before 
a  tribunal  at  which  even  majesty  must  humble 
itself  ?t  These  scenes  were  repeated  again  and 
again  and  again.  In  the  eighteen  years  of  Torque- 
mada's  administration,  ten  thousand  two  hundred 
and  twenty  individuals  were  burned  alive,  ninety- 
seven  thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty-one  were 
punished  with  infamy,  confiscation  of  proj)erty,  and 
perpetual  imprisonment;  making  a  grand  total  of 
one  hundred  and  fourteen  thousand  four  hundred 
and  one  families  destroyed  by  this  single  friar.^ 

«  Motley,  vol.  ],  pp.  322,  323.  t  Scliiller.  p.  397. 

%  Llorente,  Hist.  Span.  Inq.,  torn.  1,  p.  280. 


THE  INQUISITION.  261 

The  tremendous  horror  of  the  Inquisition  is 
deepened  by  a  consideration  of  its  instruments. 
The  whole  tribe  of  the  inquisitori  were  base  and 
sordid  and  cruel  and  licentious  to  a  proverb.'- 
Rome  took  no  notice  of  the  scandal  which  their 
conduct  provoked,  but  winked  at  personal  immo- 
rahty  to  obtain  that  which  constitutes  her  moral 
code — wealth  and  dominion;  for  dealing  in  im- 
moral acts,  immoral  agents  are  necessar3%  Would 
an  honest  man  do  for  an  inquisitor?  Would  a  fol- 
lower of  Christ,  who  said,  in  speaking  of  man  and 
wife,  "  Whom  God  hath  joined  let  not  man  put 
asunder" — would  such  a  one  sow  discord  between 
them,  and  demoralize  the  wife  to  make  her  betray 
her  own  husband  ?  To  be  an  inquisitor,  it  was 
essential  that  the  heart  should  be  hardened  to 
humanity,  deadened  to  every  social  feeling  by  long 
monastic  discipline,  and  that  the  conscience  should 
be  fatally  debauched. t 

The  Inquisition  recruited  its  ranks  by  bribery, 
that  patent  opiate  for  scruples.  'T  is  related  of  the 
Jesuit  cardinal  Palavicini  that,  being  chosen  by  the 
holy  see  to  write  the  history  of  the  council  of  Trent, 
in  opposition  to  the  account  penned  by  Paolo  Sarpi, 
and  promised  a  red  hat  as  his  reward,  the  church- 
man grieved  over  the  many  lies  he  would  have  to 
invent;  but  comforted  himself  by  sending  for  the 
insignia  of  his  future  dignity,  which  he  shook  in  his 
hand  with  a  sigh,  exclaiming,  "Ah,  how  much  I 
endure  on  your  account" — oh,  quant icm per  te patior. 

*  Achilli.       ,.  t  Acbilli,  p.  101. 


262  THE  DUTCH   REFORMATION. 

Precisely  so,  though  possibly  with  fewer  sighs,  did 
the  inquisitori  fill  their  ranks. 

But  when  the  '=  Society  of  Jesus"  was  organized, 
the  children  of  Loyola  did  from  love  what  others 
had  done  from  hope  of  gain  or  from  ambition. 
Created  expressly  to  combat  heresy,  nullities  when 
not  fighting,  the  Jesuits  —  whom  Michel6t  terms 
"the  counter-revolution"" — were  spies  by  nature, 
infamous  from  habit,  and  inquisitors  by  choice. 
The  Dominicans  did  indeed  retain  the  ostensible 
control  of  the  holy  office,  but  the  sons  of  Dominic 
were  merely  its  automatons— the  Jesuits  were  its 
soul. 

Loyola's  book  of  Spiritual  Exercises,  that  physi- 
ology of  ecstasy,  that  formula  of  sanctity,  was  the 
new  school  of  discipline.  Do  you  know  what  dis- 
tinguished Loyola  from  the  ascetics  of  the  past? 
This,  that  he  was  able  coldly,  logically  to  observe 
himself,  to  analyze  his  feelings  when  in  that  state 
of  ravishment  which  ordinarily  excludes  the  very 
idea  of  reflection.  Imposing  upon  his  disciples  as 
operations  acts  which  with  him  had  been  spontane- 
ous, he  asked  but  thirty  days — "triginta  dies" — to 
break  the  will  and  to  subdue  the  reason,  as  Karey 
conquered  an  unruly  horse.  Jesuitism  developed 
itself  as  the  inquisitor's  counterpart ;  one  dislo- 
lated  the  body,  the  other  dislocated  thought  and 
racked  the  soul.f 

The  marseiUaise  of  the  counter-revolution  was 

■"  Michelet,  The  Jesuits,  p.  8. 

t  Qmnet,  The  Jesuits.  «■ 


THE  INQUISITION.  263 

the  rosary.*  Chanting  this  the  Jesuits  wriggled 
everj-where,  reducing  souls  after  their  master's 
method,  planting  convents  of  the  Sacred  Heart  as 
auxiliary  societies,  and  seducing  lovely  and  brilliant 
women  to  repeat  their 'lies,  and  to  twist  society  into 
their  toils.  They  will  show  you  in  Venice  a  picture 
in  which,  upon  a  rich,  sombre  carpet,  a  beautiful 
rose  lies  withering  near  a  skull,  and  in  the  skull 
moves  at  pleasure  a  graceful  viper.  Does  it  typify 
the  Jesuits,  those  vipers  of  the  mind  ? 

If  now  we  look  at  the  influence  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion, we  shall  find  it  as  deadly  as  the  poisoned 
bowl  which  its  agents  so  frequently  employed.  It 
blighted  all  virtues ;  it  stabbed  civilization ;  for  it 
tore  away  mutual  confidence  and  disorganized  so- 
ciety. The  scourge  of  those  states  which  had  the 
weakness  to  adopt  it,  it  was  also  the  corrupter  of 
provinces  which  had  attempted  to  resist  its  en- 
trance. Thus,  Germany,  always  opposed  to  ifc,  yet 
experienced  the  curse  of  this  secret  tribunal ;  whose 
seat  always  concealed,  whose  emissaries  ever  un- 
known, caused  the  monarch  to  tremble  on  his  throne, 
the  peasant  to  shiver  in  his  cot.  This  terrible  court, 
always  felt,  never  unveiled,  saddened  the  lives  of  all 
who  lived  within  its  vortex.f 

-•'  Christ  said,  "  Wlien  ye  pray,  use  not  vaiu  repetitious.  After 
this  mauuer  therefore  pray  ye  :  Our  Father,"  etc.  Matt.  6  :  7-13. 
But  this  rosary  is  a  repetition  of  fifteen  Pater  Xosters,  with  one 
hundred  and  fifty  Ave  Marias;  and  it  is  said  that  the  Virgin  her- 
self taught  this  stupid  form  of  devotion' to  Domenico  di'  Gusman. 
This  is  certain,  he  was  the  promoter  of  it,  and  left  it  as  a  heritage 
to  his  order.  f  Hist,  of  the  Inq.,  Stockdale's  ed.,  p.  89. 


264  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

This  terror  extended  even  to  the  civil  autliorities, 
whose  members  were  not  exempt  from  the  inquisi- 
torial censure ;  the  base  apprehension  stifled  the 
high  spirit  of  the  magistrates.  Uncertain  whether 
a  courageous  resistance  to  the  arbitrary  will  of  the 
monks  would  be  favorably  interpreted  by  the  princes 
from  whom  they  derived  their  powers;  fearful  of 
being  sacrificed  either  to  some  political  interest 
which  they  were  unable  to  foresee,  or  to  that  abject 
dependence  in  which  Rome  habitually  kept  the 
European  sovereigns,  they  suffered  their  fellow- 
citizens  to  be  racked  and  burned;  and  looked  on 
serenely,  preferring  their  own  security  to  the  sacred 
obligation  of  protecting  the  innocent,  and  to  that 
generous  courage  .which  might  have  ruined  but 
must  have  immortalized  them.*  They  did  not  heed 
L'Hopital's  exclamation,  "To  lose  liberty!  good 
God,   what   remains   there    to    lose   after   that   is 


gone 


It.  was  in  Spain  that  the  Inquisition  was  most 
active  and  untrammelled;  and  it  is  there  that  its 
malignant  desolation  is  most  perceptible.  The  iso- 
lation of  society — death  in  life,  the  sterility  of  gen- 
ius, the  ignorance,  the  sombre  mood,  the  hideous 
morals,  the  furtive  suspicion — these  are  the  fruits 
of  the  Spanish  Inquisition. 

Such,  in  its  motive,  in  its  origin,  in  its  methods, 
in  its  instruments,  and  in  its  influence  was  the  Inqui- 
sition. It  was  the  Spanish  form  which  had  crossed 
the  ocean  with  Pizarro  and  Cortez,  and  taught  the 

*  Hist,  of  the  luq  ,  Stockdale's  ed.,  p.  89. 


THE  INQUISITION.  2G5 

Incas  of  Peru  and  the  Montezumas  of  Mexico  to 
shudder  at  the  name  of  Christianity.*  It  was  the 
Sf)anish  form  which  the  holy  see  had  invoked  when 
the  reformers  said,  "  the  church  meddles  with  the 
world,  and  teaches  us  our  business.  Very  well ;  we 
will  teach  it  God."t  It  was  the  Spanish  form  which 
Philip  II.  had  determined  to  plant  in  the  Nether- 
lands as  an  antidote  for  heresy.:]: 

*  Hist,  of  the  Inq.,  Stock,  ed.,  cliap.  7,  passim. 

\  Miclielet,  Schiller.  f  Meteren,  Vanclervynckt, 


12 


266         THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 
CHAPTEE  XYII. 

THE   EDICTS. 

In  one  form  or  anotlier  the  Inquisition  had  been 
long  seated  in  the  Netherlands,  existing  not  as  a 
tentative  but  as  a  permanent  institution.  The  ear- 
lier persecutions  were  acts  of  episcopal  inquisition, 
performed  by  the  various  diocesan  inquisitors.^' 

In  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  centur}^  the 
Ehine  fi'om  Germany  and  the  Mouse  from  France 
flooded  the  Low  Countries  with  the  pamphlets  of 
Luther  and  the  tracts  of  Calvin ;  and  the  Emperor 
Charles  found  the  existing  Romish  dykes  insuffi- 
cient to  bar  out  the  heretical  inundation.  Csesar 
applied  to  Adrian  YI.,  who  then  wore  the  tiara,  for 
aid.  It  was  granted;  and  in  1522  an  inquisitor, 
commissioned  from  Eome  and  aided  by  a  band  of 
priestly  coadjutors,  entered  Brabant.f  A  little 
later,  Clement  YII.  sent  two  additional  pontifician 
censors  of  the  faith  into  the  states,  basing  the 
Inquisition  upon  this  triumvirate;  but  his  succes- 
sor, Paul  III.,  reduced  the  number  to  two,  and 
these  were  in  office  when  Pliihp  put  on  his  father's 
crown.:}: 

This  brace  of  censors  proved  viciously  active. 
Not  satisfied  with  domestic  cruelty,  they  had  burned 

«  Strada,  p.  33.     EenomdcFrancia  MS. 

t  Ibid.     ScbiUer,  Motley.  Metereii.  t  Schiller,  p.  398. 


THE  EDICTS.  267 

William  Tyndale  with  bis  Englisli  Bibles  at  Vil- 
varde,  in  1536;  and  a  decade  later,  their  emissa- 
ries tortured  that,  army  of  exiles,  thirty  thousand 
strong,*  whom  Mary  Tudor's  rasping  fanaticism  had 
driven  to  seek  an  asylum  in  Holland  and  Brabant, 
into  which  they  smuggled  their  Protestant  books 
in  their  bales  of  merchandise.t 

The  provincial  inquisition,  like  Janus,  had  two 
faces.  It  was  papal,  because  the'  censors  bore  the 
pontifical  imprimatur ;  it  was  episcopal,  because  its 
sentences  might  only  be  enforced  by  the  civil  au- 
thorities.:]; Thus  far  it  had  been  always  administered 
by  natives ;  and  it  was  a  degree  less  barbarous,  and 
many  degrees  less  obnoxious  than  the  Spanish  tri- 
bunal, because  the  imperial  edicts,  issued  from  time 
to  time,  and  known  to  every  one,  served  as  the  rules 
of  its  decisions.! 

A  variety  of  reasons  made  Phihp  anxious  to 
replace  this  form  of  the  holy  office  with  the  Spanish 
tribunal.  Severe  as  it  was,  it  did  not  affright  the 
states  into  orthodoxy.  Its  publicity  robbed  terror 
of  its  worst  stings.  Its  connection  with  the  civil 
courts  half  paralyzed  its  arm.  Celerity,  certainty, 
lack  of  pity,  mysterious  secresy — these  were  the 
characteristics  of  that  awful  tribunal  which  had 
cramped  Spain  and  cursed  Portugal  and  cowered 
Italy  and  frenzied  France  and  wracked  pagans  into 
churchmen  at  Goa  in  the  Indies.  It  alone  was 
esteemed  by  Philip  to  be  fit  and  able  to  dragoon 

«  ytrada,  p.  36.     Braudt,  vol.  1,  p.  70.  f  Ibid. 

X  Van  der  Haer,  p.  175.     Brandt,  vol.  1.      §  Schiller,  p.  398. 


268  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

the  Netlierlaiids  into  tlie  clnal  despotism  which  was 
his  goal.""' 

The  new  bishoprics  scheme  was  a  vast  stride 
towards  the  consummation  of  this  purpose ;  hence 
Phihp's  earnestness  in  pressing  its  adoption ;  hence 
the  popular  determination  to  defeat  it.  The  text 
of  the  edict  which  decreed  this  innovation  had  used 
the  word  "inquisitor."  Granvelle,  with  habitual 
slyness,  wished  to  have  it  expunged.  If  the  Inqui- 
sition could  be  planted,  why  startle  people  by  the 
use  of  unpopular  phrases  ?  "  People  are  afraid  of 
the  new  bishoprics,"  it  was  so  that  ho  wrote  to 
Perez,  Philip's  secretary,  "on  account  of  that  clause 
providing  that  of  nine  canons  one  shall  be  an  inquis- 
itor. I  suggest  instead  that  the  canons  shall  be 
obliged  to  assist  the  bishop  as  he  may  command, 
which  would  suffice,  because  a  bishop  is  an  ordinary 
inquisitor.  'T  is  best  to  expunge  words  that  give 
offeuce."t  But  Philip  stickled  for  the  letter  of  the 
law,  and  the  cardinal's  rose-water  was  not  sprin- 
kled over  the  text. 

The  half-defeat  of  the  king's  attempt  to  inaugu- 
rate his  bishops,  gave  the  reform  fresh  impetus. 
The  number  of  its  proselytes  increased  in  propor- 
tion as  the  popular  fear  abated,  and  many  avowed 
themselves  Protestants  before  they  well  understood 
what  they  professed.:}:  The  zeal  of  such  disciples 
was  not  always  tempered  by  discretion  nor  in  ac- 
cordance with   knowledge,   and   their  wild   antics 

*  Schiller,  p.  398.  f  Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  276. 

X  Bmidt,  vol.  1,  p.  134. 


THE  EDICTS.  269 

stirred  constant  tumults,  the  op]irobrinm  of  whicli 
good  men,  better  grounded  in  the  faith,  were  com- 
pelled to  bear.  One  of  these  charlatan  reformers 
set  himself  up  in  Touruay  as  a  worker  of  miracles ; 
others  appeared  in  Lille  and  in  Valenciennes.* 

Nevertheless,  there  were  many  earnest  and  hon- 
est and  able  Christians  in  the  states,  whose  faith 
was  immovably  grounded  on  the  Bible,  and  these 
seized  every  opportunity  to  propagate  their  opin- 
ions. And  now  tracts  were  everywhere  distributed 
and  everywhere  read;  preachers  openly  addressed 
conventicles;  the  people  by  tens  of  thousands  as- 
sembled in  broad  daylight,  and  marching  in  pro- 
cession to  and  from  their  churches,  chanted  the 
psalms  of  David  in  the  translation  of  Marot.f 

This  open  defiance  of  the  edicts,  at  length  pro- 
voked the  vengeance  of  the  government.  "Philip 
himself,  ever  occupied  with  details,  from  his  palace 
in  Spain,"  as  Motley  tells  us,  "  sent  frequent  infor- 
mations against  the  humblest  individuals  in  the 
Netherlands.     It  is  curious  to  observe  the  minute 

^"  Schiller,  Meteren,  Vuudervyuckt. 

f  Meteren,  Strada,  Eenom.  de  Francia. 

Cle'meut  Marot,  a  Freuch  poet  of  celebrity  iu  liis  day,  was  born 
in  Cohors  iu  ]49o.  For  some  time  valet-de-chambre  to  Francis  I., 
he  followed  that  knight-erraut  king  in  his  Italian  campaign,  was 
captured  with  him  at  Pavia,  and  shared  his  imi^risonment  at  Ma- 
drid. Keleased  earlier  than  Francis,  he  returned  to  France,  where 
he  was  imprisoned  on  a  charge  of  heresy  preferred  bj'  Diana  de 
Poictiers,  whom  he  had  offended.  The  king  released  him,  but  he 
was  again  imprisoned,  and  again  released.  He  died  very  misera- 
bly in  Turin,  in  September,  1.144.  Marot's  most  famous  composi- 
tion was  a  translation  in  French  of  the  Psalms  of  David,  which 
was  very  popular  with  the  reformers.      Vide  Am.  Cyc. 


270  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

reticulations  of  tyranny  wliicli  he  had  begun  ah-eady 
to  spin  about  a  whole  people,  while  cold,  venomous, 
and  patient,  he  watched  his  victims  from  the  centre 
of  his  web.  He  forwarded  particulars  to  the  regent 
and  to  the  cardinal  concerning  a  variety  of  men  and 
women,  sending  their  names,  ages,  personal  appear- 
ance, occupations,  and  residence,  together  with  di- 
rections for  their  immediate  immolation.  Even  the 
inquisitors  of  Seville  were  set  to  work  to  increase, 
by  means  of  their  branches  in  the  provinces,  the 
royal  information  on  this  all-important  subject. 
'  There  are  but  few  of  us  left  in  the  world ' — it  was 
so  that  he  moralized  in  a  letter  to  Granvelle — '  who 
care  for  religion.  'T  is  necessary,  therefore,  for  us 
to  take  the  .greater  heed  for  Christianity.  We  must 
lose  all,  if  need  be,  in  order  to  do  our  duty ;  in  fine,' 
he  added,  with  his  usual  tautology,  '  it  is  right  that 
a  man  should  do  his  duty.'  "* 

Granvelle  at  once  responded,  bewailing  the  cold- 
ness and  lack  of  heart  which  the  Netherland  judici- 
ary exhibited  in  the  service  of  the  cannibal  church. 
"  I  find  that  the  civil  officers  go  into  the  matter  of 
executing  the  edicts  with  reluctance,  which,  I  be- 
lieve, is  caused  by  their  fear  of  displeasing  the  pop- 
ulace," he  said:  adding,  "when  they  do  act,  they 
do  it  but  lukewarmly ;  and  when  these  matters  ai-e 
not  taken  in  hand  with  the  necessary  liveliness,  the 
fruit  desired  is  not  gathered.  We  do  not  fail  to 
exhort  and  to  command  them  to  do  their  work. 
Viglius  and  Barlaiment  display  laudable  zeal;  but 
*  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  279. 


THE  EDICTS.  271 

as  for  the  councillors  of  Brabant,  they  are  for  ever 
prating  of  tlie  constitutional  rights  of  their  prov- 
ince, and  deserve  much  less  commendation."- 

The  governant  was  at  her  wits'  end.  Philip 
sent  her  lists  of  heretics,  and  said,  "Burn  me  these." 
The  people  persistently  interposed ;  the  magistrates 
would  not  stir ;  the  nobility  were  either  timidly  neu- 
tral or  actively  hostile,  assuring  her  that  "it  was 
no  good  time  to  move  this  stone  again,  at  which 
they  had  so  often  stumbled."t  The  states  that 
had  slipped  the  Eomish  bridle  under  Charles  V., 
and  would  not  suffer  Philip  himself,  when  he  was 
at  Brussels,  to  put  it  on  again — should  they  now 
halter  themselves,  called  by  a  woman's  voice  ? 

Maru-aret  determined  to  use  coercive  measures. 
An  inquisitorial  campaign  was  organized,  and  one 
of  the  pontifical  censors,  named  Peter  Titelmann, 
was  selected  to  head  it.  This  wretch  was  repre- 
sented by  his  contemporaries  as  a  grotesque,  yet 
terrible  goblin,  careering  through  the  country  by 
night  and  by  day;  alone,  on  horseback;  smiting 
the  trembling  peasants  on  the  head  with  a  great 
club ;  spreading  dismay  far  and  wide ;  dragging  sus- 
pected persons  from  their  firesides  or  their  beds ; 
thrusting  them  into  dungeons ;  and  torturing,  stran- 
gling, and  burning  men  for  idle  words  or  suspected 
thoughts  — for,  by  his  own  confession,  he  never 
waited  for  deeds.^: 

On  one  occasion,  three  reformers.  Christian  de 

«  Papiers  d'Etat  de  Grauyelle,  torn.  G,  p.  208,  et  seq. 

t  Sti-ada,  p.  34.  t  Motley,  vol.  1,  pp.  332,  333. 


272  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

Queker,  Jacob  Dieussaut,  and  Joan  Koniags,  who 
had  formerly  taken  shelter  in  England  under  Eliza- 
beth's throne,  where  they  had  connected  themselves 
with  the  Dutch  congregation  in  London,  were  appre- 
hended by  Titelmann  in  the  Low  Countries,  whither 
they  had  come  to  trade.  On  being  interrogated, 
they  confessed  their  heresy  and  gloried  in  it ;  which 
procured  their  speedy  sentence  to  be  burned  alive. 

Another  of  Master  Titelmann's  exploits  was  to 
hack  an  Anabaptist  to  death  with  seven  blows  of  a 
rusty  sword,  in  the  presence  of  his  wife,  who  was 
so  horror-stricken  that  she  died  on  the  spot  before 
her  hapless  husband.^" 

The  secular  sheriff,  familiarly  called  Red-Eod, 
from  the  color  of  his  wand  of  office,  met  Titelmann 
upon  the  highway  one  day,  and  thus  addressed  him : 
"Master  Inquisitor,  how  can  you  risk  your  precious 
bones  in  this  Avay  alone,  or  at  most  with  an  atten- 
dant or  two,  arresting  people  on  every  side,  while 
I  dare  not  attempt  to  execute  my  office,  except  at 
the  head  of  a  strong  force,  armed  in  proof;  and 
then  only  at  peril  of  my  life?"  "Alack,  Red-Rod," 
was  the  jocose  reply,  "  you  deal  with  bad  people. 
I  have  nothing  to  fear,  for  I  seize  only  the  innocent 
and  virtuous,  who  make  no  resistance,  and  let  them- 
selves be  taken  like  lambs."  "  Mighty  w^ell,"  re- 
torted the  sheriff;  "  but  if  you  arrest  all  the  good 
people  and  I  all  the  bad,  'tis  difficult  to  say  who  in 
the  world  is  to  escape  chastisement."  The  censor's 
rejily  has  not  been  recorded ;  but  there  is  no  reason 
*  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  167. 


THE  EDICTS.  273 

to  doubt  that  he  proceeded,  like  a  strong  man,  to 
run  his  course.* 

When  Philip  heard  of  Titehnann's  activity  and 
success,  he  wrote  back  blithely,  "  After  all,  where- 
fore introduce  the  Spanish  Inquisition  ?  The  Netli- 
erland  tribunal  is  much  more  pitiless  than  that  of 
Spain."-!- 

Granvelle  himself  has  borne  unintentional  wit- 
ness to  the  courage  of  the  Netherland  Christians. 
"  'T  is  quite  a  laughable  matter,"  wrote  he,  "  that 
the  king  should  send  us  information  from  Spain  by 
which  we  are  to  hunt  up  heretics  here,  as  if  we  did 
not  know  of  thousands  already.  Would  that  I  had 
as  many  doubloons  of  annual  income  as  there  are 
public  and  avowed  heretics  in  the  provinces.":}: 

Titelmann  had  boasted  to  Eed-Rod  of  the  pacific 
temper  of  his  victims ;  the  people  were  not  always 
equally  calm  and  non-resistant.  At  Valenciennes, 
in  1562,  two  preachers  were  arrested  as  teachers  of 
heresy.  After  a  summary  trial  they  were  sentenced 
to  be  burned  alive.  It  was  necessary,  however,  be- 
fore executing  them,  to  obtain  the  stadtholder's 
signature.  The  marquis  of  Berghen,  one  of  the 
patriot  nobles,  was  governor  of  the  Walloon  prov- 
inces, and  he  constantly  absented  himself  from  his 
post,  because  he  liked  not  to  be  the  right  hand  of 
the  inquisition. 

The  administration  was  specially  anxious  to  shed 

«  Motlej',  vol.  1.     Bnindt,  vol.  1. 
t  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  2(J7. 
I  Ibid.,  p.  210.     Papiers  d'Etat. 

12* 


274  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

the  blood  of  the  Valeucieunes  ministers;  conse- 
quently, after  the  lapse  of  seven  months,  the  gov- 
ernant  wrote  to  remonstrate  with  Berghen  on  his 
prolonged  absence  from  his  provinces.  "Madam," 
was  the  fine  retort^  "  it  suits  neither  my  station  nor 
my  character  to  play  the  part  of  an  executioner."'-^  _ 

For  this  Granvelle  denounced  him  to  the  king. 
"  The  marquis  says  openly,"  wrote  he,  "  that  't  is 
not  right  to  shed  blood  for  matters  of  faith.  With 
such  men  to  aid  us,  your  majesty  can  judge  how 
much  progress  we  are  like  to  make  in  rooting  out 
this  heresy."t 

Meantime,  determined  not  to  be  balked  of  an 
auto  da/e,  the  cardinal  despatched  letter  after  letter 
to  the  magistrates  of  Yalenciennes,  to  proceed  with 
the  execution  without  awaiting  the  return  of  the 
truant  stadtholder.'l 

This  they  were  reluctant  to  do.  Finally,  how- 
ever, the  convicted  preachers  were  taken  from  jail 
and  conveyed  to  the  market-place  to  be  burned. 
Attended  by  an  excited  crowd,  chanting  the  psalms 
of  David  under  the  very  noses  of  the  inquisitors,  the 
victims  passed  on.  Just  as  they  were  being  strapj)ed 
to  the  stake  a  rush  was  made,  at  a  signal  given  by  an 
old  woman  Avho  threw  her  shoe  towards  the  fagots, 
and  nothing  but  the  adroitness  of  the  guard  prevent- 
ed the  prisoners  from  an  immediate  rescue.  As  it 
was,  they  were  huddled  up  and  hustled  back  to  jail. 

'^  Memoires  de  Grauvelle,  torn.  1,  p.  304. 

f  Papiers  d'Etat,  torn.  7,  p.  75. 

I  Dom  I'Eresque,  torn.  1,  p.  302,  et  seq. 


THE  EDICTS.  275 

The  magistrates  were  dismayed ;  the  inquisitors 
were  frightened ;  the  people  were  at  white-heat.  At 
last  the  vast  throng  surged  towards  the  prison. 
"You  should  have  seen  this  vile  populace,"  wrote 
an  unfriendly  eye-witness,  "  mo\'ing,  pausing,  recoil- 
ing, sweeping  forward,  swaying  to  and  fro  like  the 
waves  of  the  sea  when  it  is  agitated  by  contending 
winds."*  There  was  no  long  indecision.  With  a 
wild  shout  the  people  stormed  the  jail,  rescued  the 
ministers,  and  hurried  them  away  into  safe  retreats ; 
then  the  crowd  melted  away  into  individual  frag- 
ments and  dribbled  homeward.  And  this  went  into 
history  as  "  the  day  of  the  ill-burning."t 

When  this  news  reached  Brussels,  the  court  was 
furious.  'An  army  was  despatched  to  avenge  the 
outraged  majesty  of  the  laws,  and  the  governant 
demanded  a  propitiatory  offering  in  the  shape  of 
the  heads  of  the  ringleaders  of  the  Valenciennes 
emeute,  which  she  obtained.:!: 

It  was  noticeable  that  after  this  event,  Titelmann 
fell  to  imitating  Ked-Eod,  for  he  increased  his  body- 
guard, and  armed  his  familiars  cap-d-pie. 

The  northern  provinces,  Holland,  Zealand, 
Utrecht,  Friesland,  werc*almost  unanimously  Prot- 
estant,§  and  this  circumstance  caused  an  immigra- 
tion thitherward.  It  is  impossible  for  despotism  to 
gag  public  opinion.  The  most  biting  statute  is  not 
executive  against  the  popular  pulse-beat,  unless  its 

■=■  Valenciennes  MS.     Cited  in  Mo  tie}',  vol.  1,  p.  345. 

\  Ibid.  X  Renom.  de  Francia,  Strada. 

§  Vclius  Hooru,  book  '6. 


276  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

fingers  are  swords  and  its  feet  are  cannon.  So  here 
the  feeling  of  the  people  and  the  bias  of  the  magis- 
tracy constantly  united  to  oppose  the  Inquisition  — 
not  a  town  whose  burgher  government  did  not  find 
or  create  opportunities  to  nullify  the  penal  edicts.* 

As  an  antidote  to  this  disease,  the  administra- 
tion, on  the  29th  of  March,  1562,  issued  a  new  pla- 
card commanding  "  that  none  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Low  Countries  should  be  allowed  to  come  and 
settle  in  any  of  the  towns  or  villages  of  the  hereti- 
cal provinces,  unless  they  brought  with  them  a  cer- 
tificate signed  by  the  parish  priest  and  the  civil 
magistrate  of  their  former  habitation,  attesting  that 
they  had  been  reported  good  papists,  and  were  not 
tainted  nor  suspected  of  heresy. "t  Tli£  punish- 
ment for  forging  or  using  such  a  certificate  unlaw- 
fully was  death.:]:  Moreover,  it  was  decreed  that 
"censors  and  magistrates  were  strictly  to  inquire 
not  only  into  the  character  of  those  who  for  the 
future  should  come  and  dwell  in  any  of  these  towns 
and  villages,  but  also  of  such  as  had  settled  there 
at  any  time  during  the  preceding  four  years,  in  case 
there  should  be  just  cause  of  suspecting  them;  and 
all  persons  were  obliged* to  prove  that  their  chil- 
dren had  been  baptized  according  to  the  rites  of 
the  Komisli  church."§ 

Hand  in  hand  with  this  edict  went  a  letter,  writ- 
ten by  Margaret  herself,  requiring  its  publication, 
together  with  the  former  decrees,  and  bidding  the 

*  Davies,  vol.  1,  p.  515.  t  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  143. 

X  Ibid.  §  Ibid 


THE  EDICTS.  277 

people  to  go  to  mass  on  Sundays  and  holidays  as 
the  rules  of  holy  mother  church  prescribed* — all 
absentees  to  be  punished  at  the  discretion  of  the 
inquisitors. t 

The  efforts  of  the  magistrates  to  shield  their 
Protestant  fellow-citizens  from  tlie  effects  of  these 
'decrees  were  various  and  unceasing.  On  one  occa- 
sion the  municipality  of  Hoorn  was  accused,  by  one 
Dirk,  a  hot-headed,  meddlesome  priest,  of  remiss- 
ness in  the  punishment  of  heretics,  and  Avorse  still, 
of  inducing  them  to  attend  mass  once  or  twice  for 
appearance'  sake,  and  then  appealing  to  that  fact 
as  evidence  of  their  orthodoxy;  while  often,  when 
it  was  known  that  certain  Protestants  had  been 
denounced  to  the  holy  office,  these  were  snatched 
from  punishment  by  a  timely  warning,  and  provided 
with  a  place  of  safe  concealment.^ 

A  commissioner  was  at  once  despatched  to  Hoorn 
by  the  council  of  state,  with  authority  to  investigate 
this  charge.  On  his  arrival,  the  burgomasters  re- 
ceived him  with  great  courtesy,  and  took  him  by 
turns  to  their  homes,  where  he  was  entertained  so 
effectually,  that  the  only  movement  he  was  able  to 
make  was,  "  from  bed  to  table,  and  from  table  to 
bed."  Having  spent  a  week  in  this  way,  during 
which  he  had  heard  no  accusation — for  all  who 
came  to  give  him  information  were  rejjulsed  either 
on  pretext  of  the  commissioner's  being  at  table  or 
in  bed — he  returned  to  the  council  lauding  the  reli- 

e  Bninclt,  vol.  1,  p.  143.  t  Ibid. 

X  Velius  Hoolu,  book  3,  bl.  155. 


278  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

gious  disposition  of  the  good  citizens  of  Hoorn  to 
the  skies:  "Not  one  lisp  of  heresy  have  I  heard 
during  my  whole  tarry,"  said  he.* 

Just  previous  to  the  publication  of  Margaret's 
edict,  several  of  the  Netlierland  Protestants  got 
together  and  di'ew  up  a  treatise  in  French,  under 
the  title  of,  "  A  Confession  of  the  Faith  generally 
maintained  by  Believers  dispersed  throughout  the 
Low  Countries,  who  desire  to  live  according  to  the 
Purity  of  the  holy  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."t 
It  was  sent  to  Geneva  for  Calvin's  approval,  which 
it  received;  whereupon  it  was  compressed  a  little, 
and  then  printed  in  Dutch  and  German. 

This  confession,  consisting  of  thirty-seven  arti- 
cles, was  the  antithesis  of  popery.  It  differed  from 
tliat  of  Augsburg  chiefly  in  its  reading  of  the  Lord's 
Supper;  from  that  of  the  Anabaptists,  in  the  doc- 
trines of  baptism,  the  incarnation,  and  the  religious 
authorit}^  of  the  civil  magistrate ;  and  from  others, 
in  the  point  of  predestination.  Since  it  was  in  sub- 
stantial agreement  with  the  confession  of  the  re- 
formed French  churches,  those  who  adopted  it 
styled  themselves,  iu  imitation  of  the  Huguenots, 
"  The  Dutch  Reformed  church.":]:  Before  this,  the 
reformed  of  the  Low  Countries  had  adopted  the 
London  longer  and  shorter  catechisms  as  standards 
in  matters  of  faith,  regulating  their  morals  by  the 
rules  of  the  Scriptures;  now  they  rallied  under  the 
banner  of  their  own  confession. § 

*  Velius  Hoorn,  book  3,  bl.  155.  ^ 

t  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  142.  J  Ibid.  §  Ibid. 


MINES  AND  COUNTER-MINES.        279 
CHAPTEE  XVIII. 

MINES  AND   COUNTER-MINES. 

It  was  a  x^atent  fact  that  a  crisis  impended  in- 
the  Netherlands.  As  a  man  in  the  midst  of  ava- 
lanches, by  a^  loud  word,  may  bring  one  thundering 
down  upon  him,  so  now  all  saw  that  an  exclamation 
might  precipitate  revolt.  The  wrath  of  a  nation 
is  never  impersonal ;  it  must  vent  itself  upon  some 
individual.  In  the  Loav  Countries  this  individual 
was  Granvelle.  To  the  people  he  seemed  to  be,  as 
he  was,  the  incarnation  of  all  they  hated.  This 
feeling  added  tenfold  to  the  bitterness  with  which 
he  Avas  assailed. by  the  nationahty  he  had  come  to 
stab. 

In  spite  of  his  pride,  and  notwithstanding  his 
courage — qualities  in  which  no  one  excelled  him — 
the  cardinal  bent  at  times  beneath  the  crushing 
weight  of  popular  odium.  He  pressed  Philip  to 
return  to  Brussels.  "  It  is  a  common  notion  here," 
he  wrote  to  the  royal  secretary,  Perez,  "  that  they 
are  anxious  in  Spain  to  sacrifice  the  Low  Countries. 
The  lords  talk  so  freely,  that  any  moment  I  fear  an 
insurrection.  For  God's  sake,  persuade  the  king  to 
come,  or  it  will  lie  heavy  on  his  conscience.''*  No 
reply  was  vouchsafed.  A  little  later,  Granvelle 
wrote  again :  "  It  is  three  months  since  I  have 
received  a  line  from  Madrid.     We  know  as  little  of 

--'  Cor.  cle  Philippe  11. ,  torn.  1,  p.  213. 


280         THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

Spain  here  as  of  the  Indies,  Such  silence  is  dan- 
gerous, and  may  cost  the  master  dear."* 

Granvelle,  however  much  he  might  fret  at  "  the 
master's "  course  in  his  Spanish  letters,  bated  no 
jot  of  his  hauteur  in  public ;  and  carried  it  with  as 
high  a  hand  as  ever  at  the  council  board,  disdain- 
ing to  make  an  effort  to  placate  resentment.  He 
owned  a  villa  just  outside  the  gates  of  Brussels, 
which  the  populace  nicknamed  "  The  Smithy,"  in 
derision  of  his  attributed  ancestry.f  There,  sur- 
rounded by  all  that  was  beautiful  in  art  and  luxuri- 
ous in  wealth,  the  hated  politician  dwelt,  occupying 
himself  in  transacting  the  public  business,  corre- 
sponding constantly  with  the  Spanish  court,  and 
giving  dinners  to  the  lesser  gentry — a  class  he  had 
patronized  since  his  breach  with  ^the  nobles,  and 
urgently  recommended  to  the  king,  hinting  that 
high  military  and  civil  offices  bestowed  upon  these 
would  lower  the  pride  of  the  grandees.:]:  "It  makes 
me  laugh,"  wrote  he  to  Philip,  "  to  see  the  great 
seigneurs  absenting  themselves  from  my  dinners; 
nevertheless,  I  can  always  get  plenty  of  guests  at 
my  table,  gentlemen  and  counsellors.  I  sometimes 
even  invite  citizens,  in  order  to  gain  their  good- 
will."§ 

While  the  cardinal  was  making  merry  over  the 
absence  of  the  seigneurs  from  his  table,  the  disaffect- 

»  Correspouclance  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  199. 
■j-  Vandervynckt,  torn.  1,  p.  164. 
X  Dom  I'Eresque,  torn.  2,  p.  53. 
§  Papicrs  d'Etat,  toin.  (i,  ]).  552. 


MINES  AND  COUNTER-MINES.  281 

ed  lords  were  busied  in  consolidating  a  league,  whose 
avowed  object  was  the  expulsion  of  Granvelle  from 
the  Netherlands.*  The  greater,  and  most  of  the 
lesser  nobles,  bottoming  their  measures  upon  the 
patriotism  of  the  masses,  commenced,  early  in  1562, 
an  able  and  open  constitutional  opposition  to  the 
minister  and  his  absolute  policy.  TJiere  was  noth- 
ing underhand  in  this,  because,  as  Motley  has  re- 
minded us,  "  the  Netherlands  did  not  constitute  an 
absolute  monarchy — did  not  even  constitute  a  mon- 
archy. The  provinces  knew  no  king.  Philip  was 
king  of  Spain,  Naples,  Jerusalem ;  but  he  was  only 
duke  of  Brabant,  count  of  Flanders,  lord  of  Freis- 
land :  hereditary  chief,  under  various^titles,  of  sev- 
enteen states,  each  one  of  which,  although  not  re- 
publican, possessed  a  constitution  as  sacred  as,  and 
much  more  ancient  than,  the  prerogatives  of  the 
crown ;  charters,  too,  whose  infraction,  by  Philip's 
own  oath,  absolved  his  subjects  from  all  allegiance, 
left  them  absolutely  independent  of  his  sceptre. 
Resistance,  therefore,  to  the  bold  absolutism  of  the 
Spanish  court  was  logical,  loyal,  constitutional ;  not 
a  cabal,  no  secret  league,  as  Granvelle  had  the 
effrontery  to  term  it;  but  a  legitimate  exercise  of 
powers  which  belonged  of  old  to  those  who  wielded 
them,  and  which  only  an  unrighteous  innovation 
could  destroy."! 

At  the  head  of  the  opposition,  by  right  of  pre- 
eminent genius  and  the  tacit  assent  of  the  nation, 

*  Prescott,  Hist,  of  Tbilip  II.,  vol.  1,  p.  521.     Papiers  d  Etat. 
t  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  3o3. 


282  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

stood  the  gre'at  statesman  whom  God  had  commis- 
sioned to  lead  that  Israel  out  of  the  house  of  bon- 
dage through  the  Eed  sea  of  war,  the  Prince  of 
Orange.  Imperturbable,  wary,  subtle,  prescient,  it 
was  hopeless  to  outwit  him — it  was  impossible  to 
administer  an  opiate  to  his  vigilance.  Men  were 
the  pawns,  knights,  bishops,  and  castles  of  Will- 
iam's chess — Europe  was  his  board. 

The  fanatic  king,  not  content  with  being  deaf 
to  the  admonitions  of  justice,  amused  himself  by 
applying  fresh  irritants  to  the  galled  back  of  the 
people,  forgetful  of  the  fact  that,  if  maddened,  the 
"vile  animal"  might  balk  and  throw  him  from  the 
saddle.  Wheai  PhiHp  espoused  Isabella  of  France, 
he  promised  the  queen-mother,  Catharine  de'  Med- 
ici, to  assist  her  against  the  Huguenots,  whenever 
she  might  solicit  aid.^  In  1562,  France  had  an- 
other attack  of  her  chronic  disease,  civil  war.  The 
Huguenots,  officered  by  Cond6  and  Coligny,  once 
a^ain  sounded  to  saddle  in  defence  of  edicts  which 
granted  them  liberty  of  worship,  but  which  the 
Fi-ench  court,  issuing  such  permits  only  under  the 
pressure  of  compulsion,  always  hastened  to  recall 
upon  regaining  confidence.t  It  was  not  long  ere 
the  queen-mother  was  driven  to  the  wall,  and  re- 
duced to  extremity — seeming  about  to  expire,  as  a 
poisoned  rat  dies  of  rage  in  its  hole.  Her  shriek 
for  aid  reminded  Philip  of  his  promise;  he  com- 
manded Margaret  of  Parma  to  despatch  the  native 

«  Prescott,  vol.  1.     Stracla. 

t  Hist,  of  the  Huguenots,  Am.  Tract  See,  1866. 


MINES  AND  COUNTER-MINES.         283 

bands  of  the  Netlierlands  to  the  camp  of  Catharine 
de'  Medici  with  all  speed.* 

The  governant  received  this  order  with  amaze- 
ment. Its  ludicrovis  audacity  paralyzed  Granvelle 
himself.  "  Why,"  cried  Viglius,  startled  out  of  his 
eloquent  commonplaces,  "  obedience  would  be  sui- 
cide;" and  BarHament  rounded  the  sentence  with 
his  "  Amen."t  The  Protestants  of  that  age  consti- 
tuted a  kind  of  federative  repubHc — formed  a  spe- 
cies of  secret  association  ramifying  throughout  Eu- 
rope, yet  so  closely  united  that  a  blow  struck  at  it 
in  any  member  instantly  vibrated  to  every  other.]: 
The  relationship  between  the  Huguenots  and  the 
reformed  of  the  Low  Countries  was  especially  inti- 
mate and  cordial.  Any  attempt  to  wheel  the  na- 
tional cavalry  into  Hue  against  Conde  and  Cohgny 
would,  as  the  consulta  knew,  cause  an  outbreak  in 
Brussels  itself.  When  the  royal  mandate  was  read 
at  the  council-board,  there  was  not  a  voice  which 
did  not  urge  delay  until  the  king  could  be  apprized 
of  the  danger  of  his  move.§  Margaret  was  in  a 
dilemma.  She  dared  not  act,  for  she  feared  the 
people ;  she  dreaded  delay,  for  she  feared  "  the  mas- 
ter." Doubt  tied  her  hands.  While  still  undecided, 
a  sudden  express  came  from  Madrid,  in  which  Philip 
chided  the  delay,  and  bade  the  governant  send  off 
the  auxiliaries  without  further  pause.H  Margaret 
summoned  Granvelle  to  her  side  and  showed  him 
the  missive.     "  What  shall  I  do  ?"  queried  she. 

«  Strada,  p.  CO.  f  I^ii^^-  i  Prescott,  Schiller. 

§  Strada,  uU  sup.  II  Ibid.     Cor.  de  Philippe  n. 


284  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

The  facile  minister  blandly  answered,  "  'T  is  im- 
possible to  send  the  horsemen  into  France.  Change 
the  name  and  keep  the  substance  of  his  majesty's 
desires  by  substituting  money  for  men."* 

The  advice  was  followed ;  and  after  a  heated  de- 
bate in  the  council-chamber,  the  compromise  was 
assented  to,  and  the  money  was  voted.  Philip  sent 
fifteen  hundred  troopers  from  Spain  to  Catharine's 
assistance  on  being  told  of  *ihis  transaction  by  the 
cardinal,  drawing  upon  the  states  to  pay  the  cost.f 
Thus  the  industry  of  the  Protestant  Netherlands 
was  taxed  that  the  Huguenots  might  be  persecuted 
by  the  court  of  Prance. 

Taking  this  manoeuvre  as  an  index  that  affairs 
were  rapidly  drifting  from  bad  to  worse,  the  people 
clamored  for  the  convocation  of  the  states-general. 
Orange  and  Egmont  pressed  Margaret  to  heed  this 
request — pressed  it  so  earnestly  that  she  was  obhged 
to  confess  that  Philip  had  expressly  charged  her 
not  to  call  an  assembly  of  the  states-general  in  his 
absence. I 

"  Well,  then,"  was  the  reply,  "  we  pray  your  high- 
ness to  convene  the  knights  of  the  Golden  Fleece, 
and  take  counsel  with  them."  The  governant  as- 
sented, and  the  order  assembled  at  Brussels,  in 
May,  1562.§  Yiglius  addressed  them  in  a  long 
and  eloquent  speech,  in  which  he  discussed  the 
troubled  condition  of  the  provinces,  alluded  to  some 
of  the  causes,  and  suggested  various  remedies. 

*  Strada,  pp.  GO,  61.     Prescott,  Motley.  t  Ibid, 

t  Strada,  p.  GO.     Vaudervyuckt.  §  Ibid. 


MINES  AND  COUNTEK-MINES.         285 

On  the  adjournment  of  the  order  for  the  day, 
each  knight  was  handed  an  invitation  from  the 
Prince  of  Orange  to  attend  a  caucus  in  the  evening 
at  Nassau-house.*  Just  after  nightfall  the  motley 
gathering  was  called  to  order,  and  a  furious  debate 
ensued.  Motives  were  aspersed,  epithets  were  ban- 
died, and  a  fierce  verbal  assault  upon  the  cardinal 
was  as  furiously  repelled.  Towards  midnight  the 
heated  knights  separated,  having  decided  upon  no 
programme.'!' 

Some  days  later  the  adjourned  meeting  of  the 
order  was  held.  The  passionate  discussions  of  the 
caucus  were  revived,  but  finally  it  was  decreed  that 
two  things  should  be  done:  an  application  should 
be  made  to  the  individual  states  for  a  subsidy,  of 
which  the  goveruant  stood  in  sad  need;  a  special 
envoy  should  be  despatched  to  Spain.:!:  Then  the 
knights  dissolved. 

The  monetary  request  was  preferred  to  the  prov- 
inces seriatim,  and  rejected  by  each  ;§  so  there  was 
an  end  of  one  half  of  the  advice  of  the  knights  of 
the  Golden  Fleece.  The  other  half  was  acted  upon ; 
Margaret  selected  the  seigneur  de  Monti^ny,  a  gen- 
tleman of  talent  and  patriotism,  for  the  Spanish 
mission.II  "He  will  make  an  excellent  decoy-duck," 
thought  she. 

It  was  certain  that  Moutigny  would  recite  the 

story  of  the  disaffected;  he  was  not  trusted  to  tell 

*  Hoofd,  torn.  1,  p.  40.    Hopper,  Kec.  and  Mem.,  torn.  4,  p.  25. 
t  Ibid.  t  Vita  Viglii,  p.  36. 

§  Ibid.    Vandervj'nckt,  Meteren. 
[|  Strada,  \x  09.     Vaiideivj-nckt. 


286  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

that  of  the  administratiou.  While  he  was  packing 
his  bag,  a  budget  was  secretly  prepared  between 
Margaret  and  Griinvelle,  and  despatched  to  Philip 
by  a  special  courier,  to  prepare  him  for  his  coming 
interview  with  the  envoy.* 

Let  us  seat  ourselves  beside  the  king  in  the  royal 
cabinet,  and  read  a  line  of  the  correspondence. 
"  Your  majesty,"  wrote  the  cardinal,  "  this  talk 
about  the  Inquisition  is  all  a  pretext.  'T  is  only  to 
throw  dust  into  the  eyes  of  the  vulgar,  and  to  per- 
suade them  into  tumultuous  demonstrations,  while 
the  real  cause  of  this  breeze  is  that  the  nobles 
choose  that  your  majesty  should  do  nothing  with- 
out their  permission  and  through  their  lianxls."t 

Philip  faithfully  conned  these  words,  and  then 
awaited  the  arrival  of  Montigny  with  complacent 
tranquillity.  The  seigneur  reached  Madrid  in  the 
summer  of  1562.  He  was  received  graciously,  given 
two  audiences,  and  bidden  to  speak  freely.  "  What 
is  the  cause  of  this  disturbance?  what  the  origin 
of  these  complaints?"  asked  the  king.  "Sire,"  was 
the  frank  reply,  "  the  discontent  arises  partly  from 
the  clandestine  manner  in  which  the  new  episco- 
pates were  brought  in  without  the  knowledge,  ad- 
vice, and  consent  of  the  states,  bringing  in  their 
train  an  inquisition  alien  to  our  tastes  and  habits ; 
and  partly  from  the  universal  hatred  in  which  the 
cardinal  is  held  —  hatred  so  implacable  that  yet 
greater  tumults  are  to  be  apprehended.":]: 

^-  Strada,  uhl  sitjy.  f  Papiers  d'Etat,  torn.  4,  pp.  560,  570. 

t  Strada,  p.  71.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  143.  ; 


MINES  AND  COUNTEK-MINES.         287 

Philip,  who  was  as  really  the  plenipotentiary  of 
Granyelle  as  Montigny  was  of  Margaret,  retorted 
by  repeating  the  instructions  of  his  ministerial  men- 
tor, and  closed  with  an  expression  of  his  fraternal 
sentiments  towards  the  Netherlands."  Nothing 
definite,  nothing  satisfactory  was  said;  and  when 
the  envoy,  after  being  petted  and  feted,  was  sent 
home  in  the  winter  of  1562,  he  carried  back  with 
him  nothing  but  a  dreary  package  of  equivoques — 
words  without  meaning;  the  mere  bait  for  gud- 
geons.f 

The  nobles  felt  aggrieved,  but  they  were  not 
surprised;  for  Orange  was  in  constant  receipt  of 
intelligence,  through  secret  channels,  of  what  passed 
in  Madrid4  But  so  far  were  they  from  being  dis- 
heartened by  this  failure,  that  they  only  drew  the 
bands  of  their  confederacy  against  Granvelle  more 
closely;  binding  themselves  either  to  remove  the 
cardinal  from  office  or  to  absent  themselves  from 
the  council  board,  where  they  sat  as  stupid  nulli- 
ties.§ 

It  was  the  pet  purpose  of  the  court  to  dissolve 
this  league;  and  for  that,  what  means  so  fit  as  to 
sow  distrust  and  to  awaken  jealousy  among  the 
confederates?  Ere  Montigny  had  reached  Madrid, 
Philip  had  sent  urgent  and  profuse  directions  to 
Margaret  and  the  cardinal  to  consummate  this  good 
work.  "  By  no  means  suffer  private  assemblies 
among  the  nobles,"  he  wrote,  "but  find  out  some 

<:■  Schiller,  p.  439.  \  Ibid.,  Alotley,  Meteren. 

t  Schiller,  p.  440.  §  Ibid.,  Prescott,  Motlej-. 


28B  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

expedient  whereby  the  union  of  these  men,  packed 
together  to  disquiet  the  state,  may  be  handsomely 
dissolved.  Above  all,  set  spies  upon  the  prince  of 
Orange  and  his  counsels ;  yet  continue  to  keep  him 
at  court,  and  under  your  eyes."* 

It  was  deemed  especially  necessary  to  estrange 
Egmont  and  Orange,  the  twin  pillars  of  the  league. 
Equal  in  fame  and  in  popularity,  though  fatally 
dissimilar  in  character  and  intellect,  one  was  the 
Ajax,  the  other  the  Ulysses  of  the  patriot  cause. 
What  better  augury  of  the  success  of  their  party 
could  be  asked  than  that  afiforded  by  the  union  of 
wisdom  in  council  with  audacious  skill  in  execu- 
tion? 

Their  alienation  was  not  esteemed  difficult  to 
compass.  The  hot-headed,  frank,  imprudent  soldier 
had  always  felt  a  lingering  jealousy  of  Orange's 
influence  and  superior  acumen.  "We  will  play 
upon  that  string,"  said  Granvelle;  "we  will  say 
that  the  prince  leads  him  by  the  nose."  And  the 
cardinal,  who  entertained  a  profound  contempt  for 
Egmont's  political  talent,  as  well  he  might,  wrote 
Philip :  "  The  count  is  weak  and  vain — a  wreath  of 
smoke.  He  means  honestly,  but  abler  men  pervert 
liim."t  Then  he  essayed  to  wean  Egmont  from 
Orange  by  cajolery  and  judicious  flattery.  He  men- 
tioned him  to  the  king  in  terms  of  vague  commen- 
dation. He  strove  to  humiliate  Orange  and  to  pla- 
cate Egmont  at  the  same  time,  by  paying  the  count 

• 

»  Cited  in  Strada,  p.  70. 

f  Papiers  d'Etat,  toin.  7,  j").  1W. 


MINES  AND  COUNTEEMINES.  289 

a  large  instalment  of  Lis  back  salary,  while  award- 
ing the  prince  an  insignificant  sum  *  Then  look- 
ing wdder,  he  moved  the  governant  to  send  the 
duke  of  Aerschot,  an  avowed  enemy  of  the  prince, 
as  extraordinary  ambassador  to  Frankfort,  to  be 
present  at  the  election  of  a  Roman  emperor,  though 
it  was  known  that  Orange  was  entitled  to,  and 
expected  and  desired  that  honor ;  thus  attempting 
to  suborn  patriotism  by  showing  what  a  splendid 
reward  hatred  to  the  j)rince  might  win.t 

But  these  pitiful  manoeuvres  failed.  Orange 
went  to  Frankfort  in  his  private  capacity,  saying, 
"We  shall  be  stronger  one  day"  —  an  enigmatic 
phrase  which  puzzled  the  court,  but  with  which 
Granvelle  hastened  to  acquaint  the  king4  As  for 
the  relations  between  Egmont  and  the  prince,  they 
remained  undisturbed.  Each  knew  that  he  was 
now  indispensable  to  the  other;  a  common  peril 
and  a  common  purpose  united  them  by  a  bond  of 
fellowship  which  their  hearts  would  never  have  fur- 
nislied.§  Across  this  Medician  campaign  of  the 
court  was  written  one  word — "  Defeat." 

*  Dom  TEresqiie,  torn.  2,  pp.  41-45. 

t  Scliiller,  p.  439. 

X  Correspondance  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  pp.  241,  242. 

§  Scliiller,  ubl  sup. 


13 


290  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

GKANVELLE'S    WITHDRAWAL. 

In  the  beginning  of  1563,  the  Netherlands  seem- 
ed on  the  high  road  to  ruin.  Bankruptcy  was  in 
the  vice-regal  exchequer.  Trade  was  at  a  halt. 
Swarms  of  inquisitors  were  scouring  the  provinces, 
and  burning  heretics  from  the  Meuse  to  the  Zujder 
Zee.  A  vague  fear  chilled  all  hearts.  Twenty  thou- 
sand religious  refugees  had  crossed  from  the  states 
into  England.* 

Grieved  and  alarmed,  the  grandees  determined 
to  make  another  effort  to  persuade  Philip  to  redress 
these  evils ;  and  though  all  were  at  this  time  Eo- 
manists,  they  were  a  unit  in  branding  the  Inquisi- 
tion as  an  infamous  tribunal,  impatiently  endured, 
but  never  accepted  by  the  people.t 

On  the  eleventh  of  March,  1563,  Orange,  Eg- 
mont,  and  Horn  signed  a  letter  to  the  king,  which 
consisted  of  a  fact  and  a  deduction.  The  fact  was, 
that  the  cardinal  was  odious  to  all  classes  of  the 
nation :  the  deduction  was,  that  the  government 
could  no  longer  be  carried  on  by  him  without  immi- 
nent danger  of  ruinous  convulsions.^ 

Most  of  the  nobles  assented  to  this  epistle  ;  but 

*  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p. '247. 

t  Vandervynckt,  Metereu.  t  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  380. 


GEANVELLE'S  WITHDRAWAL.         201 

few  dared  affix  tlieir  signatures  to  it.      Grauvelle 
M-as  the  Mentor  of  the  king — powerful,  unscrupu- 
lous ;  Philip   was   known   to   be   treacherous   and 
unforgiving.     "  It  may  end  badlj,"  said  Berghen 
and  Montignj".     Egmont  and  Horn,  men  of  reckless 
daring,  dashed  down  their  names  without  counting 
or  caring  for  the  cost — signed  as  one  w^ould  have 
led  his  fleet  into    action,  and  as  the  other  would 
have  charged  a  hostile  squadron  on  the  battle-plain. 
It  is  probable  that  Orange  alone  fully  appreciated 
the  abyss  on  whose  edge  this  open  and  recorded 
opposition  to  the  cardinal  placed  the  triumvirate.* 
The  letter  had  been  written  secretly,  and  it  was 
sent  ostensibly  to  Charles  de  Tisnacq,  a  Belgian 
and  Philip's  procurator  at  Madrid  for  the  business 
of  the  Low  Countries,  who  was  requested  to  hand 
it  to  the  king.t    Spite  of  this  precaution,  the  secret 
leaked   out — perhaps   through   the   lips   of  Count 
Aremberg,  who  had  been  solicited  to  sign  it  and 
had  refused,  and  who  was  openly  charged  by  Eg- 
mont with  betraying  it.:t      Granvelle  hastened   to 
"  The  Smithy,"  and  dashed  off  a  few  lines  to  the 
king,  informing  him  of  this  last  move  of  Orange, 
bidding  him  expect  the  missive  at  an  early  day,  and 
as  usual,  directing  him  how  to  reply  to  it.     He 
repeated,  for  the  hundredth  time,  his  opinion  that 
the  nobles  were  inspired,  not  by  patriotism,  but  by 
mere  lust  of  authority ;  and  he  pretended  to  fear 
lest  power  should  be  concentrated  in  the  nation, 
instead   of  being   safely   diffused   throughout   the 

«  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  380.  j  Strada,  p.  73.  J  Ibid. 


292  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

hands  of  one  man — Philip.'^'  A  special  messenger 
placed  these  lines  in  the  king's  hands  before  the 
March  letter  of  the  grandees  reached  him,  and  he 
was  on  his  gnard.t 

Nearly  three  months  elapsed  ere  Philip  deigned 
to  notice  the  note  of  the  triumvirs.  "When  at  last 
he  did  reply,  it  was  briefly  and  to  this  effect :  "  I 
thank  yon  for  your  zeal  and  affection  to  the  state 
and  me ;  but  you  send  me  no  specifications  against 
Granvelle.  'T  is  not  my  custom  to  remove  my  min- 
isters from  office  without  proof  against  them.  Some 
of  you,  then,  come  over  to  Spain  and  acquaint  me 
with  the  facts.":}: 

"  '  Will  you  walk  into  my  parlor  ?'  said  the  spider 
to  the  fly."  The  flies  begged  to  be  excused.  And 
though  Philip,  in  a  private  note  to  Margaret,  indi- 
cated that  Egmont,  as  being  the  most  tractable, 
was  the  fly  whom  he  should  be  glad  to  see,  inform- 
ing her  at  the  same  time  that  his  only  object  was 
to  deride  the  nobles  and  to  gain  time,§  Egmont 
politely  declined  the  invitation.il 

Naturally,  Philip's  meagre  response  embittered 
the  grandees  by  its  very  adroitness.  "  'T  is  a  cold 
and  bad  reply  to  send  after  such  long  delay,"  wrote 
Louis  of  Nassau,  the  prince's  brother ;  "  't  is  easy  to 
see  that  the  letter  came  from  the  cardinal's  smithy. 
In  truth,  it  is  a  vile  business,  if  we  are  to  be  gov- 

*  Papiers  d'Etat,  torn.  7. 

t  His  letter  -was  dated  April  6,  15G3. 

t  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  251.  §  Ibid. 

II  Ibid.,  pp.  255-2 -iO. 


GRANVELLE'S  WITHDEAWAL.         293 

erned  by  one  person.  Nevertheless,  the  gentlemen 
are  wide  awake,  for  they  trust  the  red  fellow  not  a 
bit  more  than  he  deserves."* 

After  some  consultation,  Orange,  Egmont,  and 
Horn  resolved  to  address  Philip  again.  "  We  are 
surprised,"  wrote  they,  "  that  yoiir  majesty  has 
thought  our  representations  so  unworthy  of  atten- 
tion. 'Tis  not  as  accusers  of  the  minister,  but  as 
councillors  of  your  majesty  that  we  speak.  As  to 
our  omission  of  specifications  against  Granvelle, 
we  had  imagined  that  our  fidelity  and  past  services 
would  witness  to  the  truth  of  Avhat  we  charged. 
The  present  state  of  the  provinces  would  not  per- 
mit us  to  leave  home  on  so  long  a  journey  as  is  that 
to  Spain,  even  did  not  honor  hold  us  from  consent- 
ing to  travel  so  far  merely  to  lodge  a  complaint 
against  such  a  man  as  Granvelle.  In  case  your 
majesty  does  not  see  fit  to  comply  wi|h  our  request 
for  the  cardinal's  dismission  from  office,  we  pray 
you  to  excuse  us  from  farther  attendance  at  the 
council-board,  where  we  are  powerless  to  serve  your 
interests,  and  only  appear  contemptible  in  our  own 
sight."!  To  this  same  eftect  were  two  private  let- 
ters to  the  king,  written  by  Counts  Egmont  and 
Horn,  which  went  out  about  the  same  time.:}: 

This  done,  the  grandees  waited  upon  the  gover- 
nant,  and  handing  her  a  formal  protest  against  the 
prevailing  policj^  predicted  inevitable  ruin  to  the 

a  Cited  iu  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  383. 

I  Cor.  de  Guillaume  le  Tacit.,  torn.  2,  p.  42,  et  seq. 

X  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1. 


294  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

common  weal,  unless  Granvelle  was  removed;  and 
while  expressing  a  determination  to  serve  in  their 
respective  governments  to  the  best  of  their  abilities, 
avowed  their  purpose  to  withdraw  from  the  council 
of  state.*  Orange,  Egmont,  and  Horn  were  as  good 
as  their  word;  they  disappeared  from  the  council, 
and  left  it  to  the  minister  and  his  two  shadows, 
Viglius  and  Barliament.f 

"We  will  consider  your  representations;  mean- 
while, do  you  attend  at  the  council  as  before,"  wrote 
the  king  after  long  delay  to  the  seigneurs  in  answer 
to  their  last  budget.  But  the  triumvirs  paid  no 
heed  to  the  mandate. | 

It  seems  that  Philip  had  transmitted  his  corre- 
spondence with  the  grandees  to  the  duke  of  Alva, 
with  a  request  for  his  opinion.  This  was  that  brute's 
reply:  "Every  time  that  I  see  the  despatches  of 
these  three  FJemish  seigneurs,  my  rage  is  so  ex- 
cited, that  if  I  did  not  exert  myself  to  the  utmost 
to  repress  it,  I  should  express  the  sentiments  of  a 
madman. "§  After  this  wild  exordium,  he  gave  this 
advice :  "  If  you  cannot  take  off  their  heads,  dissem- 
ble. I  prescribe  this  treatment  not  as  a  remedy, 
but  as  a  j)alliative,  because  just  now  only  weak 
medicines  can  be  employed;  one  day  we  can  pro- 
ceed to  vigorous  chastisement.il 

This  was  counsel  after  the  king's  own  heart.  It 
was  destined  to  bear  bloody  fruit  at  no  distant  day. 

«  Hoofcl,  torn.  2,  p.  43.  f  Motley.  $  Schiller,  p.  442. 

§  Cited  in  Prescott,  vol.  1,  pp.  537,  538;  aud  in  Motley,  vol.  1, 
p.  387.  II  Prescott,  Motley,  ut  antea. 


GRANVELLE'S  WITHDRAWAL.         295 

This  long  skirmish  of  pens  was  succeeded  in  the 
Netherlands  by  a  war  of  wit.  A  tremendous  assault 
was  made  upon  Granvelle  through  the  medium  of 
caricatures  and  petty  comedies.  The  provinces 
teemed  with  lampoons  and  pasquinades.*  History 
has  preserved  a  number  of  these  witticisms,  which 
add  color  to  the  picture  of  the  times,  as  the  value 
of  amber  is  enhanced  by  the  insect  it  preserves. 

The  general  respect  for  the  cardinal  had  sunk 
so  low,  that  on  one  occasion  a  caricature  was  pub- 
licly placed  in  his  hand  by  a  pretended  petitioner, 
which  represented  a  hen  with  Granvelle's  face,  seat- 
ed upon  a  i)ile  of  eggs,  out  of  which  she  was  hatch- 
ing a  brood  of  bishops.  Some  of  these  were  chip- 
ping the  shell,  some  thrusting  forth  an  arm,  some 
a  leg,  while  others  were  running  about  with  mitres 
on  their  heads — all  bearing  a  ludicrous  resemblance 
to  various  prelates  recently  installed.  Above  the 
cardinal's  head  loomed  Satan,  in  the  act  of  saying : 
"  This  is  my  dear  son,  listen  to  him."t 

The  comedians,  too,  ridiculed  the  minister  in 
the  public  plays.  The  tyranny  which  was  able  to 
drown  a  nation  in  blood  and  tears  was  powerless  to 
prevent  the  people  from  laughing  bitterly  at  their 
oppressors.:}:  Indeed,  spite  of  the  king's  command 
that  the  authors  of  these  satires  should  be  pun- 
ished, Margaret  feared  to  stir  a  step  in  the  business, 
so  hazardous  did  she  esteem  it  to  gag  the  guffaw.§ 

Nor  did  the  comedy  seem  to  tire  the  actors ;  the 

"  Hoofd,  book  1.     Strada.  f  Hoofd,  torn.  2,  p.  42. 

X  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  349.  §  Hoofd,  Strada. 


296  TUE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

nobles  themselves  began  to  share  in  the  sport.  Two 
of  them  especially,  Brederode,  "  a  madman,  if  there 
ever  was  one,"  as  a  contemporary  calls  him,*  and 
"  Eobert  de  la  Marck,  a  descendant  of  the  famous 
'  Wild  Boar  of  Ardennes,'  a  man  brave  to  temerity, 
but  sanguinary  and  depraved,  were  most  untiring 
in  their  efforts  to  make  Granvelle  ridiculous." 

Granvelle's  red  hat  was  a  new  crime  in  the  eyes 
of  Brussels;  consequently  most  of  the  wits  seized 
upon  that  hated  badge  as  a  target.  One  evening 
the  lord  of  Grobbendonck,  Philip's  receiver  of  cus- 
toms, gave  a  supper  to  a  number  of  the  Flemish 
nobles.  After  a  while  the  conversation  drifted  upon 
the  expensive  habits  of  the  aristocracy,  particularly 
as  exhibited  in  the  liveries  of  the  nobilit}'.  These 
were  showy  and  costlj",  intimating  by  colors  the 
families  to  which  they  belonged — a  fashion  inaugu- 
rated by  Granvelle,  and  a  radical  departure  from 
the  simpler  German  custom. 

At  this  feast  it  was  proposed,  by  Berghen  per- 
haps, or  possibly  by  Montigny,  that  all  should  agree 
to  adopt  a  more  modest  and  a  uniform  apparel. 
The  idea  was  well  received.  "  Who  shall  select  a 
pattern?"  demanded  one.  "Let  us  cast  the  dice 
for  it,"  said  another.  This  was  done,  and  the  lot 
fell  upon  Egmont. 

The  next  morning  Brussels  was  surprised  to  see 
the  count's  retainers  clothed  in  a  new  livery  of  a 
dark  gray  color,  and  very  coarse,  as  a  contrast  to 
the  fineness  of  Granvelle's  dress.    Upon  each  sleeve 

«  Poutus  Payeii,  MS. 


GEANVELLE'S  WITHDRAWAL.         297 

was  embroidered  the  figure  of  a  head  and  a  fool's 
cap.  The  head  was  marvellously  like  that  of  the 
cardinal,  and  the  cap,  being  red,  was  thought  to 
resemble  a  cardinal's  hat.  Some,  indeed,  imagined 
that  the  fool's  cap  was  intended  to  remind  Gran- 
velle,  who  had  often  styled  the  nobles  zanies  and 
lunatics,  that  now,  as  of  old,  a  Brutus  might  be 
found  lurking  under  the  costume  of  a  fool. 

This  "fool's  cap  livery,"  as  it  was  called,  was 
received' with  acclamation.  Everybody  adopted  it; 
not  a  tailor  in  Brussels  whose  stock  of  frieze-cloth 
was  not  exhausted.  The  governant  herself  laughed 
at  the  joke,  and  sent  Philip  some  specimens  of  the 
coats ;  but  eventually  she  intervened,  and  persuaded 
Egmont  to  invent  another  emblem  less  obnoxious 
to  the  court.  The  count  acceded,  and  that  device 
was  succeeded  by  a  bundle  of  arrows  similarly  em- 
broidered ;  and  this  was  afterwards  adopted  as  the 
device  of  the  seven  united  provinces.* 

Granvelle  bore  up  bravely  under  these  assaults ; 
yet  they  galled  him.  He  wrote  Perez:  "My  hair 
has  turned  so  white,  you  would  not  recognize  me."t 
He  was  then  but  forty-six.  Like  a  pestilential  va- 
por, the  infamy  of  universal  reprobation  hung  over 
him.  Philosophy  itself  could  afford  him  no  refuge. 
A  stranger  in  the  land;  alone  among  millions  of 
enemies ;  uncertain  of  his  tools ;  supported  only  by 
the  arm  of  distant  royalty;  what  wonder  that  his 
hair  turned  gray  ? 

*  Vita  Viglii,  torn.  2,  p.  33.     Stratla,  p.  78.     Vauder  Haer. 
t  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  26S. 
13* 


298  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

"  If  his  majesty  comes  not  soon  to  Brussels,  I 
must  withdraw,"  wrote  he  to  Perez,  in  whose  sym- 
pathetic ear  he  was  wont  to  pour  his  complaints.* 
And  now  the  governant  herself,  heretofore  the  car- 
dinal's fast  friend,  began  to  desire  his  withdrawal. 
The  repeated  complaints  against  the  extent  of  the 
minister's  power  must  have  convinced  her  at  last 
that  she  was  a  cipher ;  perhaps,  too,  she  began  to 
fear  that  the  abhorrence  which  attached  to  him 
would  soon  include  herself,  and  that  his  longer  tarry 
would  indeed  provoke  a  revolt.  Possibly  she  may 
have  felt  cramped  by  Granvelle's  superior  acumen, 
and  esteemed  herself  competent,  schooled  by  his 
long  tuition,  to  control  in  person.! 

Be  all  this  as  it  may,  it  is  certain  that  a  cool- 
ness had  grown  up  betvv^een  these  two,  and  that  the 
duchess  of  Parma  had  commenced  to  coquette  with 
the  patriot  nobles,  with  Egmont  especially,:}:  At 
last,  Margaret  concluded  to  send  her  secretary  and 
confidant,  Thomas  Armenteros,  a  man  of  fine  ad- 
dress, but  of  low  origin  and  deceitful  character,§  on 
a  special  mission  to  Madrid,  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
curing the  cardinal's  recall.il 

Quitting  Brussels  in  the  autumn  of  1563,  he 
reached  Madrid,  and  presented  the  voluminous  let- 
ters of  Margaret  to  the  king;  and  then  cunningly 
pronounced  a  vague  eulogium  upon  Granvelle's  tal- 

«  Cor.  cTe  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  274. 

•f  Scliiller,  Prescott,  Van^er  Haer. 

X  Memoires  de  GranveUe,  torn.  2.     Strada. 

§  Motley.  II  Ibid.,  Prescott,  Meteren. 


GEANVELLE'S  WITHDRAWAL.         299 

euts  and  services,  into  wliicli  lie  interwove  *tlie  real 
facts  wliich  called  for  his  retirement.* 

Philip  was  nonplused.  Policy  demanded  Gran- 
velle's  dismissal;  pride  called  for  his  retention.  He 
had  recourse  to  his  usual  tactics — he  postponed  a 
decision,  trusting  that  time  might  help  him  at  the 
crucial  moment.  Armenteros  was  detained  on  one 
pretext  or  another  until  January,  1564;  then,  since 
there  seemed  no  help  for  it,  Philip  sent  him  back 
loaded  with  letters  and  instructions,  and  in  this 
mail-bag  was  a  note  to  Granvelle.  "  On  considera- 
tion," he  wrote,  "  I  deem  it  best  that  you  should 
leave  the  Low  Countries  for  some  daj'S,  and  go  to 
Burgundy  to  see  your  mother,  with  the  consent  of 
the  duchess  of  Parma.  In  this  way,  both  my  au- 
thority and  your  reputation  will  be  preserved."t 

This  letter  was  concealed  from  every  one  but 
Margaret,  and  Granvelle  continued  to  appear  and 
to  act  as  always  for  some  weeks  after  its  receipt.:]: 
Privately,  however,  the  cardinal  began  to  prepare 
for  exile ;  because,  though  he  knew  that  "  the  mas- 
ter" intended  to  retain  him  at  Brussels,  and  so 
would  not  dismiss  him,  he  was  keen  enough  to  see 
that  his  rule  was  over  in  the  Netherlands. 

One  day,  according  to  arrangement,  he  asked 
permission  of  the  governant  to  visit  his  aged  moth- 
er, whom  he  had  not  seen  for  fourteen  years.  "  Cer- 
tainly," said  Margaret.  On  the  13th  of  March, 
1564,  the  minister  quitted  Brussels  ostensibly  upon 

0  Schiller.  t  Mem.  de  Granvelle,  torn.  2,  p.  55. 

1  Motley,  Prescott,  Meteren. 


300  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

this  visit,  promising  gayly  to  be  back  shortly.    "Not 
good-by,  but  au  revoir"  cried  he.* 

This  was  exile;  but  the  facile  cardinal,  uncon- 
quered  even  in  his  fall,  over-awed  the  shouts  which, 
as  he  well  knew,  quivered  on  the  lips  of  the  hostile 
city,  by  giving  to  his  exit  the  air  of  a  brief  pleasure 
jaunt.f 

*  Archives  de  la  Maison  d'Orange,  Nassau,  torn.  1,  p.  266.  This 
date  has  been  disputed.  'T  is  probable,  however,  that  the  chronol- 
ogy of  the  Prince  of  Orange  is  correct. 

t  For  a  time  Granvelle  resided  in  Burgundy,  on  his  patrimo- 
nial estate  at  Besan§on.  "After  the  death  of  Pius  IV.  he  went  to 
Kome,  to  be  present  at  the  election  of  a  new  pope,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  discharge  some  commissions  of  his  master,  whose 
confidence  in  him  remained  iinbroken.  Soon  after,  Philip  made 
him  viceroy  of  Naples,  where  he  succumbed  to  the  seductions  of 
the  climate ;  and  the  spirit  which  no  vicissitudes  could  bend,  vo- 
luptuousness overcame.  He  was  sixty-two  years  old  when  the 
king  allowed  him  to  visit  Spain,  where  he  continued  with  unlim- 
ited powers  to  administer  the  affairs  of  Spanish-Italy.  A  gloomy 
old  age  and  the  self-satisfied  pride  of  sexagenarian  administration 
made  him  a  harsh  and  rigid  jiidge  of  the  opinions  of  others,  a 
slave  of  custom,  and  a  tedious  panegyrist  of  past  times.  But  the 
policy  of  the  closing  century  had  ceased  to  be  the  policy  of  the 
opening  one.  A  new  and  younger  ministry  was  soon  weary  of 
so  imperioiis  a  superintendent,  and  Philiji  himself  began  to  shun 
the  aged  councillor,  who  found  nothing  worthy  of  praise  but  the 
deeds  of  his  father.  Nevertheless,  when  the  conquest  of  Portugal 
called  Philip  to  Lisbon,  he  confided  to  the  cardinal  the  care  of  his 
Spanish  territories.  Finally,  in  the  year  1589,  on  an  Italian  tour 
in  the  iovnx  of  Mantua,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his  life,  Gran- 
velle terminated  his  long  existence  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  his 
glory,  and  after  possessing  for  forty  years  the  uninterrupted  confi- 
dence of  his  king."     Schiller,  p.  449. 

For  an  interesting  account  of  Granvelle's  state  papers,  see  Pres- 
cott,  vol.  1,  pp.  550,  551.  Motley  says  Granvelle  died  in  1586,  at 
the  age  of  seventy,  vol.  1,  p.  421. 


4» 
JUGGLING.  301 


CHAPTER  XX. 

JUGGLING. 


As  the  waves  of  a  tempest-lashed  sea  swell  and 
toss  long  after  the  subsidence  of  the  storm,  so  the 
Netherlands,  passion-lashed  by  Granvelle,  surged 
and  seethed  long  after  his  quiet  disappearance.* 
"  Is  it  really  true  ?"  was  the  query  on  all  lips  ;  "  has 
Monsieur  Eed  Hat  gone  for  good?" 

That  was  the  very  riddle.  Some  held  that  the 
cardinal's  departure  for  Besancon  was  a  mere  ruse, 
a  temporary  withdrawal,  which,  rightly  read,  meant 
an  armed  return.  This  \ie^v  Granvelle  was  careful 
to  countenance,  and  his  frequent  letters  to  Viglius 
and  Barlaiment  and  Aerschot  were  filled  with  art- 
ful allusions  to  his  speedy  reappearance  at  Brus- 
sels.* 

This  fear  bridled  joy.  "  They  say,"  wrote  Bred- 
erode,  "  that  the  red  fellow  is  to  be  back,  and  that 
Barlaiment  is  to  meet  him  at  Namur.  The  devil 
after  the  two  would  be  a  good  chase. "t  Orange 
felt  convinced  that  the  minister's  retirement  was 
practical  exile ;  but  with  the  caution  which  was  his 
second  nature,  he  had  his  wily  foeman  closely 
watched.  "  'T  is  a  sly  and  cunning  bird  that  wo 
deal  with,"  said  he ;  "  one  that  sleeps  neither  day 

«  Papiers  d'Etat,  tom.  8.     Vita  Viglii,  Vanclervynckt. 
f  Groen  v.  Prinst.  Arch.,  tom.  1.  p.  305. 


302  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION.  ' 

nor  night  wlien  prey  is  to  be  gotten.  We  must  be 
on  our  guard."* 

However,  clays,  weeks,  months  passed,  and  the 
cardinal  did  not  coine ;  at  last  men  said,  "  Good ; 
he  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  He  lay  heav}^  on  the 
stomach  of  the  nation,  and  we  vomited  him  up." 

Simultaneously  with  Granvelle's  exit,  the  gran- 
dees reentered  the  council  of  state,  wrote  to  assure 
the  king  of  their  loyalty,  received  gracious  letters 
over  the  royal  autograph  in  reply;  and  then,  easing 
Mare-aret  of  the  burden  of  business  under  which 
she  staggered,  sat  tied  to  their  desks  by  emulous 
industry  all  day  and  every  day  into  the  "  wee  sma' 
hours  ayant  the  twar."t 

As  for  the  governant,  she  seemed  born  into  a 
new  world.  All  paid  devoted  court  to  her :  the 
nobles  were  full  of  zeal  and  submission  ;  the  peo- 
were  obliging  in  temper. :|;  For  the  first  time,  Mar- 
garet knew  what  it  was  to  reign  ;  and  in  propor- 
tion as  she  was  enamored  of  this  new  power,  she 
cursed  the  priestly  task-master  who  had  so  long 
withheld  her  from  it.  "  The  duchess  cannot  hear 
your  name  mentioned  without  an  indignant  blush," 
wrote  Morillon  to  Granvelle,  his  friend  and  patron; 
"  'T  is  easy  to  tell  what 's  o'clock."§  One  day  Mar- 
garet was  heard  to  exclaim,  "  Thank  heaven,  I  have 
but  one  son  ;  since,  if  I  had  a  second,  he  must  have 

*  Groen  v.  Prinst.  Arch.,  torn.  1,  pp.  226,  259. 

t  Vita  Viglii,  Meteren,  Schiller. 

X  Schiller,  p.  450.     Motley. 

§  Papiers  d'Etat,  torn.  8,  pp.  92,  91,  131. 


JUGGLING.  303 

been  an  ecclesiastic,  and  as  vile  as  priests  always 
are.  " 

Surely  Peter  Titelmann  ought  to  have  expostu- 
lated with  the  duchess. 

At  the  same  time  Margaret  endeavored  to  under- 
mine the  cardinalists  in  Philip's  esteem.^  "They 
are  a  vile  set,  Granvelle,  Yiglius,  and  the  rest,"  so 
she  wrote  in  effect ;  "  they  loved  to  fish  in  troubled 
waters,  and  aimed  at  anarchy  that  they  might  con- 
trol. They  opposed  the  convocation  of  the  states- 
general  for  fear  their  accounts  might  be  scrutinized, 
and  their  frauds,  injustice,  simony,  and  rapine,  ooze 
out."t 

The  Prince  of  Orange  had  at  this  hour  a  three- 
fold purpose — the  convocation  of  the  states-general, 
the  abolition  of  the  religious  edicts,  and  the  merging 
of  the  councils  of  justice  and  finance  in  the  council 
of  state-t  "  This  achieved,"  said  WiUiam,  "  and  I 
defeat  the  absolute  policy  of  the  Spaniard,  and  lift 
the  council  of  state  into  supreme  control — make  it 
dispenser  of  justice,  holder  of  the  public  purse,  and 
agent  for  foreign  affairs."§ 

It  was  a  statesmanlike  programme,  but  it  was 
certain  that  Philip  would  never  assent  to  its  first 
and  second  points,  since  they  robbed  him  of  his 
most  esteemed  prerogatives — the  power  to  perse- 
cute and  the  power  to  domineer;  and  as  for  the 
last  item,  the  whole  cardinalist  party,  led  by  Viglius 

'-■  Papiers  d'Etat,  torn.  8,  p.  132. 

f  Correspondance  de  riiilippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  295. 

I  Ibid.,  p.  329.     Motley,  Prescott. 

§  Correspondance  de  Guillaume  le  Taciturne,  torn.  2. 


304  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

and  Barlaimeiit  and  Aerscliot  and  Mansfield  and 
Aremberg — natives  of  the  Netherlands  all,  and  men 
of  wide  influence,  though  just  now  eclipsed  in  the 
governant's  saloons— denounced  it  as  an  attempt 
to  concentrate  revolutionary  authority  in  an  irre- 
sponsible, uncontrollable  senate,  fashioned  after  the 
Venetian  Council  of  Ten,  dwarfing  the  monarch  into 
a  mere  doge.* 

Notwithstanding  the  much -lauded  probit}^  of 
Barlaiment,  and  the  "honor"  of  Viglius,  the 
finance  and  privy  councils  over  which  they  respec- 
tively presided  were  sinks  of  corruption. t  Indeed 
the  most  barefaced  depravity  existed  in  every 
branch  of  the  administration.  Justice  was  sunk 
into  the  trade  of  hucksters— law  w^as  an  article  of 
merchandise.:!:  Nothing  could  be  obtained  Avithout, 
every  thing  could  be  had  for,  money.  Life,  liberty, 
and  religion  were  insured  at  certain  rates ;  for  gold, 
murderers  went  unhung  and  malefactors  were  set 
free ;  the  government  itself  plundered  the  nation  by 
a  public  lottery.§  Ten  per  cent,  a  year  was  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  to  Brussels. 

Of  course  tliis  frightful  malversation  gave  rise 
to  mutual  accusations  of  venality  and  fraud.  Some 
said,  "It  is  the  cardinalists ;"  some,  "It  is  the  no- 
bles;" others,  "It  is  the  governant."  Sooth  to  say, 
all  were  guilty.  The  grandees,  impoverished  by 
habits  of  luxury  into  which  they  had  been  persist- 

«>  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  441.  Papiers  cVEtat,  de  Granvelle,  torn.  7, 
p.  186.  t  Motley,  iihl  sup.  t  '^^^^ 

§  Schiller,  p.  455. 


JUGGLING.  305 

eutly  hired,  ami  thus  relaxed  in  their  morals,  were 
thankful  for  a  chance  to  thrust  their  itching  fingers 
into  the  pockets  of  the  nation.*  Those  who  had 
just  been  oustecWwere  no  whit  more  conscientious 
about  reaping  a  florin  harvest,  and  Yiglius  had 
taken  priests'  orders  in  his  old  age  that  he  might 
become  provost  of  the  church  of  St.  Basau  at 
Ghent.t 

Most  flagitious  of  all  was  Margaret  herself.  Her 
secretary,  Armenteros  —  whose  intimacy  with  his 
mistress  procured  for  him  the  name  of  "  Madame's 
barber,"  in  allusion  to  the  goveruant's  famous 
moustache,  and  to  the  historical  influence  enjoyed 
by  the  barbers  of  the  duke  of  Savoy  and  of  Louis 
XI.:t: — carried  on  a  shameless  trafiic  in  benefices, 
honors,  ofiices,  patents,  privileges,  reducing  bribery 
to  an  art,  simony  to  a  science,  and  roguery  to  a 
school ;  and  he  divided  the  spoils  of  this  disgrace- 
ful commerce  with  the  regent.§  "  The  duchess'  has 
gone  into  the  business  of  vending  places  to  the  high- 
est bidders,  with  the  bit  between  her  teeth,"  reported 
Morillon  to  his  exiled  patron. ||  When  the  gover- 
nant  was  auctioneer,  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that 
the  bidding  was  brisk? 

The  bravest  stemmers  of  this  torrent  of  corrup- 
tion were  almost  swamped  by  it — Orange  himself 
opposed  it  in  vain.      "  It  soon  became  evident," 

*  Schiller,  p.  455. 

f  Papiers  d'Etat  de  Granvelle,  torn.  8,  p.  320. 

X  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  443. 

§  Ibid.     Groeii  v.  Priust.,  Arch,  et  Con-esp.,  torn.  1,  p.  405. 

II  Papiers  d'Etat  de  Granvelle,  torn.  7,  p.  635. 


306  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

remarks  Motley,  "  that  as  desperate  a  straggle  was 
to  be  made  with  this  many-headed  monster  of  ini- 
quity, as  with  the  cardinal  by  whom  it  had  been  so 
long  fed  and  pampered."*  • 

Not  many  months  elapsed  ere  the  effects  of  this 
venality  and  rapine  were  seen  and  felt  in  the  disor- 
ganization of  society.  Margaret  was  aroused  from 
her  delicious  trance  by  the  clamors  of  a  mutinous 
arm}^,  eager  for  the  payment  of  its  long  arrears,t 
by  the  boisterous  petitions  of  the  burghers  demand- 
ing justice,^  and  by  the  daily  receipt  of  letters  from 
the  king,  complaining  of  the  growth  of  heresy,  and 
commanding  that  renewed  recourse  be  had  to  the 
fagot  and  the  stake.§ 

The  reformed,  "  instant  in  season  and  out  of 
season  "  in  God's  service,  had  indeed  availed  them- 
selves of  the  opportunity  afltbrded  by  the  unsettled 
state  of  the  provinces  to  proclaim  the  gospel.  The 
Calvinists  in  the  territories  which  bordered  upon 
France,  the  Anabaptists  in  the  north,  the  Lutherans 
on  the  German  frontier — all  were  busy,  all  ubiqui- 
tous.! Even  the  Jews,  outlawed  and  surrendered 
to  persecution  by  all  mediaeval  sects,  now  swarmed 
in  the  cities  of  the  Netherlands  unracked,  un- 
burned.l  Granvelle,  before  his  fall,  had  written 
to  Philip,  "  'T  is  more  than  a  year  since  a  single 
arrest  on  a  charge  of  heresy  has  been  made  in 

*  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  441. 

f  Schiller,  p.  458.     Meteren,  Vaudervynckt. 

X  Ibid.  §  Ibid.     Strada,  p.  83. 

II  Trescott,  vol.  1,  p.  556.  H  Ibid. 


JUGGLING.  307 

Brussels;"*  and  since  the  exit  of  the  cardinal,  pub- 
lic opinion  had  quite  drawn  the  sting  from  the  ven- 
omous edicts.  The  Inquisition  was  an  object  of 
contempt  as  well  as  of  hatred  ;t  and  the  inqnisitori 
were  compelled  to  memorialize  the  king  for  protec- 
tion and  support.:}:  The  burgomasters  of  Bruges 
flung  a  number  of  their  own  officers  into  prison, 
and  kept  them  on  bread  and  water  for  several 
weeks,  as  a  punishment  for  an  attempt  to  lay  hands 
upon  a  heretic.§ 

Philip's  anger  was  fanned  to  white-heat.  Scores 
of  letters,  brimful  of  minute  descriptions  of  sus- 
pected individuals,  were  forwarded  from  Madrid  to 
Brussels  by  special  couriers  ;|1  and  spurred  forward 
by  the  absolute  command  of  the  king,  the  reluctant 
govern  ant  once  more  unleashed  the  hounds  of  per- 
secution.T 

In  the  summer  of  1564,  an  effort  was  made  to 
burn  a  reformer  in  the  market-place  of  Antwerp. 
One  Fabricius,  a  converted  Carmelite  friar,  who 
had  quitted  the  cloister,  married,  and  settled  in 
Antwerp  as  pastor  of  a  reformed  congregation,  Avas 
arrested,  racked  by  the  inquisitors,  that  an  accusa- 
tion of  his  secret  associates  might  be  wrung  from 
*liis  tortured  lips;  and  at  last,  when  it  was  found 

^  Correspondance  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  -p.  210. 
f  Vita  Viglii,  Vandervj'iickt. 

I  Correspondance  de  Philijipe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  353. 
§  Strada,  p.  84. 

II  Ibid.,  p.   83.      Correspondance  de  Philippe  II. _.  torn.  1,  p. 
327,  d  alibi. 

II  Brandt,  vol.  1,  -p.  HG.     Strada,  ubi  sup. 


308  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

that  no  "confession"  could  be  extorted  from  him, 
sentenced  to  tlie^take." 

As  lie  was  led  out  to  die,  a  multitude  of  excited 
spectators  surged  round  the  executioners ;  and  from 
the  sidewalk,  the  doorways,  the  balconies  on  his 
route,  sympathizing  voices  shouted,  "Take  courage, 
Fabricius,  and  endure  manfully  to  the  last."t  When 
the  stake  was  reached,  and  the  "victim  was  lashed  to 
it,  a  shower  of  stones,  cast  from  unseen  hands,  fell 
upon  the  pile,  driving  the  executioner  from  his  post 
just  as  the  fire  was  kindled.  Determined,  however, 
not  to  be  deprived  of  his  prey,  he  stabbed  the  mar- 
tyr to  the  heart  ere  he  fled,  so  that  Avlien  the  crowd 
rushed  to  release  Fabricius  from  the  flames  he  was 
already  dead.:}: 

Antwerp  was  mutinous  throughout  the  night, 
and  in  the  gray  of  the  next  morning  the  city  was 
found  to  be  placarded  with  verses  written  in  blood, 
which  announced  that  Fabricius'  death  would  be 
avenged.  Indeed,  that  same  day  a  woman,  who 
was  accused  of  having  betrayed  the  martyr  to  the 
Inquisition,  was  publicly  stoned,  and  would  have 
been  killed,  had  she  not  taken  refuge  in  a  neigh- 
bor's house,  where  she  was  hidden  from  the  mob.§ 

When  the  news  of  this  riot  reached  Madrid,* 
Philip  was  enraged.     "S'death,  madame,"  wrote  he 
to   Margaret,    "  unearth   these  vermin,  and   move 
heaven  aud  earth  to  punish  them."il    The  governant 

*  Brandt,  ubi  sup. 

t  Bnaudt,  vol.  1,  p.  146,  et  seq.     Strada,  p.  84. 

I  Ibid.  §  Ibid.  ||  Strada,  Prescott. 


JUGGLING.  309 

heard,  but  stood  powerless.  To  have  punished  all 
the  guilty  would  have  been  to  flay  Antwerp,  for  the 
whole  city  was  the  rioter.  One  of  the  stone-casters 
was  hung;  the  rest  it  was  impossible  to  identify.* 

Scenes  of  outrage  which  went  off  more  smoothly 
than  this  at  Antwerp,  were  now  enacted  through- 
out the  Netherlands.  The  people  cursed ;  the  states 
protested.  Flanders  solemnly  memorialized  the 
king  against  Peter  Titelmann,  and  forwarded  to 
Madrid  a  vivid  list  of  his  enormities.f  The  seign- 
iors were  conjured  to  intervene ;  Margaret  was 
beseeched  to  curb  this  wretch.  Neither  the  nobles 
nor  the  governant  dared  move.  "  May  I  perish," 
wrote  Marillon  to  Granvelle,  "if  the  duchess  does 
not  stand  in  exceeding  awe  of  Titelmann.":}:  Eg- 
mont  himself,  the  hero  of  Gravellines  and  St.  Quen- 
tin,  was  more  than  suspected  of  trembling  before 
this  blood-smeared  butcher  of  the  Inquisition.§ 

As  for  Philip,  instead  of  reproof,  he  bestowed 
the  royal  benediction  upon  Titelmann;  they  were 
congenial  souls.  So  far  was  he  from  mitigating  the 
horrors  of  the  new  crusade  against  reform,  that  he 
instructed  the  governant  to  publish  throughout  the 
Netherlands,  and  to  enforce,  the  decrees  of  the 
Council  of  Trent. II 

This  memorable  synod,  first  called  by  Paul  III. 

•■-  Strada,  Prescott. 

•j-  Brandt,  vol.  1.  Corresp.  de  Philippe  11.,  torn.  1.  Papiers 
d'Etat.  X  Papiei'S  d'Etat,  torn.  8,  p.  425. 

§  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  434. 

II  Strada,  p.  84.  et  seq.  Hopper,  Rec.  et  Mem.  Corresp.  de 
Philii^pe  II. 


310  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

in  1537,  and  continued  tlirougli  twenty-one  twad- 
dling years,  had  finally  effected  a  sine  die  adjourn- 
ment in  December,  1563.*  Its  avowed  purpose  was 
the  settlement  of  disputed  points  of  orthodoxy.  The 
tedious  labors  of  these  doctors,  instead  of  purifying 
the  Eomish  church  from  its  corruptions,  had  only 
reduced  its  errors  to  greater  definiteness  and  pre- 
cision, and  invested  them  with  the  sanction  of  au- 
thority. All  the  subtleties  of  its  teachings,  all  the 
arts  and  usurpations  on  which  the  see  of  St.  Peter 
was  based,  and  which  had  rested  hitherto  largely 
upon  arbitrary  usage,  were  now  enacted  into  laws, 
and  fi-amed  as  a  system. 

The  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent  contained 
many  provisions  which  were  deadly  to  the  preroga- 
tives of  the  European  sovereigns,  and  which  were 
meant  to  restore  the  temporal  supremacy  of  Eome,t 
Against  several  of  these  Philip  had  earnestly  pro- 
tested, while  the  decision  was  pending;  but  he  was 
defeated,  and  on  this  account  Europe  expected  that 
he  would  follow  the  example  of  France,  and  reject 
the  decrees.:]:  This  belief  became  a  certainty  in 
most  minds  when  Pius  V.  settled  a  question  of  pre- 
cedence between  the  Castilian  and  the  French  am- 
bassadors at  the  papal  court,  in  favor  of  France.§ 

But  Philip  could  not  remain  at  feud  with  Pome. 
"  In  matters  of  faith,"  wrote  he  to  the  duchess  of 
Parma,  "  I  am  always  ready  to  sacrifice  my  private 

*  Fra  Paolo  Sarpi,  Hist,  du  Concile  de  Trente. 

t  Ibid.  X  Prescott,  vol.  1,  p.  570.-    Strada,  p.  85. 

§  Strada,  uhi  supra. 


JUGGLING.  311 

feelings  to  the  common  wecal."*  Early  in  1564,  he 
had  ordered  the  decrees  to  be  received  as  law  in 
Spain  ;t  now  he  assured  the  governant  that  they 
must  be  obeyed  in  the  Netherlands.  "  No  excep- 
tions are  permissible,"  added  he.  "  What  is  law  in 
Madrid  must  be  law  in  Brussels."! 

The  announcement  of  Philip's  determination 
surprised  Christendom,  and  provoked  a  storm  of 
indignation  in  the  Netherlands.  Now  again,  as  in 
the  days  when  the  new  bishoprics  won  the  anathe- 
ma of  the  states,  all  classes  united  in  denouncing 
these  abhorrent  decrees.  "  They  contravene  our 
charters,"  said  the  provinces.  "  They  conflict  with 
our  immunities,"  cried  the  clergy.  "  They  murder 
conscience,"  affirmed  the  reformers.§ 

Margaret  convened  her  council  in  dismay. 
"  What  shall  I  do  ?"  queried  she.  "  Proclaim  the 
canons,"  said  Viglius.ll  '*  Send  an  envoy  to  Ma- 
drid to  lay  the  grievances  of  the  nation  before  the 
king,  and  to  submit  what  we  think  the  most  effect- 
ual remedy,"  advised  Orange.H  The  prince  carried 
the  day,  and  Egmont  was  selected  for  the  mission,- * 
"  I  will  go,"  said  the  handsome  soldier — all  the 
more  readily  because  he  had  a  list  of  personal 
favors  to  crave  of  Philip.tt 

Viglius  drew  up  Egmont's  instructions.]::!;     The 

^  Strada,  ubi  supra.  f  Ibid. 

t  Correspondance  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  328. 

§  Meteren,  Prescott.         ||  Groeu  v.  Priust,  Arch.,  etc.,  torn.  1. 

\\  Prescott,  vol.  1,  p.  571.     Strada. 

**  Strada.     Papiers  d'Etat,  torn.  8.         ft  Prescott,  ubi  sup. 

±1  Ibid,     Motley. 


312  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

priuce  esteemed  them  timid  and  pointless.  When 
the  rough  draiight  was  presented  for  the  action  of 
the  council,  he  rose  and  rolled  out  one  of  the  most 
massive  and  impassioned  speeches  of  his  life.* 

As  William  poured  out  his  eloquence,  he  bore 
conviction  on  the  tide  of  his  rapid  invective  ;  and 
as  he  closed  his  address  at  seven  in  the  evening, 
with  the  affirmation  that  he  "  could  not  look  on 
with  pleasure  while  princes  strove  to  govern  the 
souls  of  men,  and  to  take  away  their  liberty  of  con- 
science," the  council  adjourned.t 

Viglius  was  astounded.  He  piqued  himself  on 
his  rhetoric,  and  he  feared  for  his  laurels.  It  was 
necessary  to  surpass  the  declamation  of  Orange,  if 
he  wished  to  obliterate  the  impression  of  the  patriot 
orator.  Perplexed  and  despairing,  he  tossed  in  his 
bed  till  dawn  without  closing  his  eyes ;  then,  on  ris- 
ing to  dress,  he  was  stretched  senseless  by  a  stroke 
of  apoplexy.;!:  • 

It  was  some  weeks  ere  Viglius  was  able  to 
resume  his  place  at  the  council-board.  His  smooth 
tongue  was  paralyzed,  his  limbs  were  rigid.  Mean- 
time his  seat  was  filled  by  his  friend  and  fellow- 
countryman  Joachim  Hopper,  like  himself,  a  Frisian 
doctor  of  ancient  blood  and  extensive  acquire- 
ments.§  Motley  tells  us  that  Hopper  was  "the 
projector  of  that  ultra-Eomanist  university,  which, 
at  Philip's   desire,  was   successfully  organized  at 

-  Siimmarized  iu  Motley,  vol.  1,  pp.  455,  456. 

t  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  456.  '  J  Vita  Viglii. 

§  Motley,  ithi  sup. 


JUGGLING.  313 

Douay  in  155G,  iu  order  that  a  Freucb  university 
might  be  furnished  for  Walloon  students,  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  seductive  and  poisonous  Paris.  For 
the  rest,  Hopper  was  a  man  of  mere  routine — often 
employed  by  Philip  in  weighty  affairs,  but  never 
entrusted  with  the  secret  at  the  bottom  of  them. 
His  mind  was  a  confused  one,  and  his  style  was 
inexpressibly  involved  and  tedious.  '  Poor  Master 
Hopper,'  said  Granvelle,  'did  not  write  the  best 
French  in  the  world  ;  and  though  learned  in  letters, 
he  knew  little  of  statesmanship.'  His  manners 
W'ere  as  cringing  as  his  intellect  was  narrow.  He 
never  opposed  Margaret,  so  that  his  colleagues 
called  him  '  Councillor  Yes  Madame ;'  and  he  did 
his  best  to  be  friends  with  all  the  world."" 

Hopper  new-modelled  Egmout's  instructions, 
so  that  they  echoed  the  sentiments  of  tlie  prince's 
speech.t  The  governant  gave  them  to  the  envoy, 
sayiug,  "I  pray  you  impress  upon  his  majesty  the 
importance  of  what  is  herein  writ,  the  impossibility 
of-  enforcing  the  edicts  in  their  present  severity,  the 
refractory  spirit  of  the  people,  the  exhaustion  of 
the  exchequer,  and  the  necessity  which  should  seem 
to  dictate  the  abrogation  of  the  Tridentine  canons, 
as  also  the  necessity  of  sending  me  precise  instruc- 
tions how  to  act."i 

"  Ptely  upon  me,  madame,"  responded  Egmont„ 
On  the  thirtieth  of  January,  1565,  the  gallant  envoy 
embarked  for.  Spain  ;§  a  few  days  later  he  entered 

o  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  457.  f  Vita  Viglii,  p.  41. 

t  Ibid.  §  Papiers  d'Etat,  toiu.  9. 

Dutch  Bef.  14 


314  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATIOxN". 

tlie  lion's  den.  This  time  the  beast's  mouth  was 
closed.  Philip  understood  the  giddy,  open-hearted, 
vain  soldier  wliom  the  states  had  deputed  to  wait 
upon  him.  "I  shall  receive  Egmont  graciously," 
wrote  he  to  the  duchess."  He  knew  that  the  ego- 
tistic envoy  could  be  easily  cozened ;  and  he  deter- 
mined to  juggle,  not  to  growl. 

AccordiDgly,  Egmont  received  the  most  cordial 
and  royal  of  welcomes.  His  tarry  was  one  pro- 
longed fete.  Never  before  in  Castilian  halls  had 
subject  been  so  received  by  king.  The  courtiers 
of  Madrid  seemed  to  have  conquered  their  ancient 
grudge  against  the  Flemings ;  and  they  too  buried 
the  envoy  in  their  hearts — feasted  him,  courted  him, 
and  deferred  to  him.f 

Phihp  took  his  guest  to  see  the  foundation- 
stones  of  the  Escurial — the  memorial  of  that  battle 
of  St.  Quentin  of  which  Egmont  was  the  hero ;  and 
though  it  was  February,  he  insisted  upon  showing 
him  the  beauties  of  his  summer  retreat  in  the  Sego- 
vian  forest. I  Nor  did  the  crafty  monarch  neglect 
to  confer  upon  his  "  good  cousin "  more  solid  fa- 
vors. Egmont  was  something  of  a  spendthrift,  and 
his  estates  were  mortgaged.  "I  will  remit  all  royal 
dues,"  said  the  debonnaire  and  liberal  mouarch.§ 
Fifty  thousand  golden  florins  were  handed  him; 
altogether  his  journey  was  worth  a  hundred  thou- 
sand crowns.ll 

^  Prescott,  vol.  1,  p.  576. 

t  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  349.     Papiers  d'Etat,  torn.  9. 

t  Ibid.   '  §  Ibid.  ||  Papiers  d'Etat,  torn.  9,  p.  385. 


JUGGLING.  315 

So  much  kindness,  such  judicious  flattery,  quite 
won  Egmont's  heart,  and  completely  vanquished  his 
acumen.  Business  was  scarcely  thought  of;  and 
when  it  was  referred  to,  a  few  plausible,  non-com- 
mittal, double-meaning  words  easily  satisfied  the 
tyro  diplomat;  or,  if  he  seemed  inclined  to  press 
any  disagreeable  question,  a  well-turned  compli- 
ment, an  invitation  to  dine  out,  or  a  request  for  an 
opinion  upon  a  new  cut  for  a  collar,  could  always 
lure  the  volatile  count  into  pleasanter  discourse  * 

Back  of  this  royal  courtesy  lay  deadly  earnest- 
ness. Philip  had  considered  deeply  the  despatches 
of  the  governant,  and  he  had  decided  not  to  swerve 
a  hand's  breadth  from  his  former  policy.  To  rein- 
force and  to  sanctify  this  purpose,  he  summoned  a 
council  of  the  most  eminent  theologians  in  Madrid ; 
and  after  explaining  the  condition  of  the  Nether- 
lands to  them,  put  this  question :  "  Am  I  justified 
in  granting  religious  toleration  to  the  provinces?" 

From  the  form  of  the  query,  the  conclave  imagin- 
ed that  Philip  desired  an  affirmative  decision ;  and 
thinking  to  please  him,  their  easy  virtue  led  them 
to  respond,  "Yes,  sire,  considering  the  critical  situ- 
ation of  tlie  Netherlands  and  the  imminent  danger 
of  revolt,  if  care  and  prudence  be  not  used,  we  think 
you  might  be  justified  in  decreeing  liberty  of  wor- 
ship." "  S'  death,"  cried  Philip,  in  a  rage ;  "  I  did 
not  call  you  to  learn  what  I  migJd  do,  but  what  I 
ought  to  do."  The  sycophantic  churchmen,  finding 
that  they  had  mistaken  the  cue,  promptly  faced 

«  Schiller,  Van  dcr  H.-ver,  Meteren,  Strada. 


316  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

about,  and  indignantly  vetoed  the  idea  of  tolera- 
tion.-^ 

Then  followed  a  notable  instance  of  fanaticism, 
or  of  hypocrisy.  Prostrating  himself  before  a  cru- 
cifix, the  king  exclaimed,  "  I  implore  thy  divine  maj- 
esty, Kuler  of  all  things,  that  thou  keep  me  deter- 
mined as  I  am  now  never  to  become  nor  to  be  called 
the  lord  of  those  who  reject  thee-for  their  Lord."t 

All  these  determinations  were  carefully  concealed 
from  Egmont;  and  when,  after  a  delightful  sojourn 
at  the  Spanish  court,  he  prepared  to  return  to 
Brussels,  he  really  thought  that  he  had  been  com- 
pletely successful  in  his  mission,  avowed  himself 
the  most  contented  man  in  the  world,  and  construed 
Phihp's  gracious  phrases  to  mean  that  nothing  had 
been  denied  to  his  brilliant  diplomacy.:]: 

"Here,  my  dear  count,"  said  the  monarch  at 
their  parting  interview,  "  here  is  a  packet  of  sealed 
instructions  for  the  governant.  You  will  hand  it  to 
her,  when  you  reach  Brussels."!  The  cozened  en- 
voy took  it  with  a  smile,  nothing  doubting  that  it 
tallied  with  the  verbal  assurances  which  the  royal 
juggler  had  given  him. 

Early  in  April,  1565,  the  count  rode  gayly  into 
Brussels,!!  received  a  warm  welcome  home,  announced 
his  success  at  Madrid,  handed  the  royal  despatches 
to  the  duchess,  and  kissed  his  countess  with  the 
consciousness  of  having  done  a  good  deed  bril- 
liantly. 

■s  Strada,  p.  89.  f  I^iid.  t  Schiller,  Motley,  Prescott. 

§  Hopper,  Eec.  et  Mem.  ||  Hoofd,  Hopper,  Van  der  Haer. 


JUGGLING.  317 

A  few  days  after  his  return,  Egmont  was  sum- 
moned to  attend  a  session  of  tlie  council  of  state. 
The  sealed  instructions  were  opened  and  read.  This 
was  their  substance :  "  I  have  reached  no  decision 
as  it  regards  the  proposed  change  in  the  councils. 
Concerning  the  edicts,  there  must  be  no  change  in 
them.  I  would  rather  lose  a  hundred  thousand 
lives,  if  I  had  so  many,  than  allow  a  single  altera- 
tion in  religion.  This,  however,  you  may  do:  ap- 
point a  commission,  consisting  of  three  bishops  and 
a  number  of  jurists,  to  advise  with  the  members  of 
the  council  of  state  as  to  the  best  means  of  instruct- 
ing the  people  in  their  spiritual  concerns.  More- 
over, since  public  executions  of  heretics  do  but 
afford  them  an  opportunity  of  boastfully  displaying 
a  foolhardy  courage,  and  of  deluding  the  common 
herd  by  an  affectation  of  the  glory  of  martj-rdom,  I 
urge  you  to  devise  means  for  putting  in  force  the 
final  sentence  of  the  Inquisition  with  secret  de- 
spatch, thereby  depriving  the  condemned  of  the 
honor  of  their  obduracy."* 

Egmont  was  astounded.  "  These  specious  favors, 
then,  which  were  lavished  upon  me,"  exclaimed  he 
loudly  and  bitterly,  "were  nothing  but  an  artifice  to 
expose  me  to  the  ridicule  of  my  fellow-citizens,  and  to 
destroy  my  good  name.  If  this  is  the  fashion  after 
which  his  majesty  keeps  the  promises  which  he  made 
me  in  Spain,  let  who  will  take  my  offices;  for  my 
part,  I  will  prove,  by  my  retirement  from  public 
affairs,  that  I  have  no  share  in  this  breach  of  faith."t 
«  Cor.  de  Phil.  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  347,  et  seq.  f  Schiller,  p.  467. 


318  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

Orange  was  indignant,  but  not  surprised.  He 
had  suspected  that  Egmont  would  be  outwitted,  and 
now  he  accused  his  friend  of  neglecting  the  public 
business  in  the  pursuit  of  private  ends  and  pleas- 
ures. "  Count,"  said  he,  "  you  have  been  deluded 
by  Spanish  cunning.  Self-love  and  vanity  have 
blinded  your  penetration.  You  have  forgotten  the 
general  welfare  for  your  own  advantage."* 

The  rebuke  was  sharp,  but  it  was  merited. 

Worst  of  all  in  Egmont's  eyes,  he  lost  caste  with 
the  people.  They  too  echoed  the  charge  of  the 
prj^ice  of  Orange,  and  cursed  the  king's  instructions 
as  establishing  a  more  bitter  code  than  the  existing 
one.f  Philip  could  have  adopted  no  surer  method 
of  breaking  Egmont's  popular  credit  than  by  gib- 
beting him  at  the  cross-road  of  public  opinion  as  a 
traitor  or  a  dupe. 

It  has  been  said  that  "Prudence  is  only  fear 
with  a  wise  cloak  on."  On  this  occasion  Prudence 
caught  cold  without  her  cloak. 

«  Schiller,  p.  4C7.     Papiers  d'Etat,  torn.  9,  p.  345. 
f  Prescott.  vol.  1,  pp.  583,  584. 


THE  DEAGON'S  TEETH.  319 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

THE  DEAGON'S  TEETH. 

As  tlie  year  1565  sped  ou,  absolutism  became 
more  pronounced ;  protestation  grew  more  emphatic. 
The  country  at  large  was  feverishly  excited.  Spe- 
cial couriers  hastened  hither  and  thither  freighted 
with  weighty  mail-bags,  covering  every  high-road 
with  dust  flung  from  the  heels  of  their  flying  horses. 
Margaret  was  in  daily  communication  with  the 
king.  The  patriot  nobles  interchanged  incessant 
letters.  Granvelle,  from  his  quiet  retreat  at  Besau- 
9on,  maintained  a  busy  corresj)ondence  with  his 
partisans  in  Flanders  and  Brabant,  forwarding  vivid 
summaries  of  his  epistolary  gleanings — and  some- 
times the  original  notes  themselves — to  Madrid.* 

In  July,t  1565,  a  mixed  conclave  of  ecclesiastics 
and  civilians  was  convened  at  Brussels,  pursuant  to 
the  roj'al  mandate,  to  deliberate  upon  the  fittest 
"mode  of  instructing  the  people  in  their  spiritual 
concerns.":}:  It  was  composed  of  six  divines  and 
three  gentlemen  of  the  long  robe  fi'om  the  courts  of 
justice,  reinforced  by  Barliament  and  Viglius,§  who 
had  so  far  recovered  from  his  recent  apo2:(lexy  as  to 
be  able  to  resume  his  duties.    The  governant  asked, 

«  Prescott,  vol.  1,  p.  588. 

t  Brandt  says  on  the  25tli  of  May.     See  vol.  1,  p.  154. 

t  Chapter  XX.,  p.  313.  §  Braudt,  iihl  sup. 


320  THE   DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

"  Gentlemen,  ought  any  change  to  be  made  in  the 
punishment  of  heresy?"  The  lawyers,  those  profes- 
sional fishers  in  troubled  waters,  those  thriveis  on 
discord,  responded :  "  Madame,  we  favor  the  repeal 
of  the  death  penalty  for  heretical  offences."  The 
clergy,  those  preachers  of  peace,  those  pleaders  for 
charity,  snarled  angrily,  "Your  highness,  we  stoutly 
maintain  the  contrary  opinion."*  Viglius  was  espe- 
cially vehement  in  his  eulogy  ui:)on  the  auto  da  fc 
principle.  "  I  can  find  no  words  sufficiently  harsh," 
cried  he,  "in  which  to  characterize  those  who  would 
abolish  such  a  vital  safeguard."t 

Of  course,  the  prelates  carried  their  point.  It 
was  decided  that  no  change  was  permissible,  save 
perhaps  some  mitigation  of  the  punishment  of 
those  who,  without  being  heretics  or  sectaries, 
might  bring  themselves  within  the  provisions  of  the 
edicts  "  through  curiosity,  nonchalance,  or  other- 
Avise."  Such  offenders,  it  was  hinted,  might  be 
"  whipped  with  rods,  fined,  banished,  or  subjected 
to  similar  penalties  of  a  lighter  nature.":!^  From 
which  it  should  seem  that  those  theologians  were 
disposed  to  pardon  curiosity  and  nonchalance  in 
the  reformed  proselytes;  while  they  had  nothing 
for  the  just  and  conscience-tied  but  the  rack  and  the 
stake.  Rome  could  forgive  every  thing  except — 
honesty.     It  is  a  pregnant  page  of  history. 

«  Papiers  d'Etat,  torn.  9.    Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  471. 
t  Ibid.,  torn.  9,  p.  408. 

X  Hopper,  Rec.  et  Mem.,  pp.  48,  49.      Cited  iu  Motlej',  vol.  1, 
p.  472. 


THE  DEAGON'S  TEETH.  321 

The  conclave  put  this  decision  in  writing  on  the 
eve  of  adjournment.  Margaret  presented  it  to  the 
council  of  state.  "  What  shall  I  do  with  it  ?"  que- 
ried she.  "  'T  is  no  a£fair  of  ours,"  replied  the  cau- 
tious councillors ;  "  his  majesty  has  not  demanded 
our  opinion."*^  The  sentiments  of  the  patriot  sei- 
gneurs were  well  known,  but  they  did  not  deem  it 
necessary  to  volunteer  a  statement  of  views  which 
they  knew  were  asked  only  to  commit  them.  "Fa- 
bius  was  a  wise  general,"  said  Orange;  "he  knew 
how  to  wait  and  watch. "t 

Early  in  July,  the  governant  forwarded  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  commission  to  Madrid  for  the  king's 
inspection,  and  to  him  she  repeated  the  question 
which  she  had  put  to  the  council  of  state,  "  What 
shall  I  do  with  this  decision?"  The  interrogator 
had  no  better  success  in  the  royal  cabinet  than  in 
the  council  chamber  at  Brussels.  Philip  had  taken 
refuge  in  taciturnity. 

Meantime,  public  opinion,  less  cautious  than  the 
nobles,  less  taciturn  than  the  king,  made  its  com- 
ments on  the  deliberations  of  the  conclave.  The 
doctors  were  pelted  with  opjirobrious  epithets. 
Free-spoken  Bred  erode  expressed  the  universal 
feeling,  when  he  said,  "  As  for  those  blackguards  of 
bishops,  I  would  the  race  were  extinct,  like  that  of 
green  dogs."| 

«  Hopper,  Kec.  et  Mem.,  pp.  48,  49.     Cited  iu  Motley,  vol.  1, 
p.  472. 

f  Lives  of  the  Princes  of  the  House  of  Orange,  William  the 
Silent.  I  Groen  V.  Prinst.,  Archives,  etc.,  torn.  1,  p.  382. 

14* 


322  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

Viglius  was  agitated,  but  he  still  plumed  liim-  , 
self  on  the  result  of  the  conclave's  labors.  "  Many 
here  seek  to  abolish  the  chastisement  of  heres}^" 
so  he  wrote  to  Granvelle.  "If  they  gain  their 
point,  actum  est  de  religione  CatJiolica;  for  as  most  of 
the  people  are  ignorant  fools,  the  heretics  will  soon 
be  the  great  majority,  if  they  are  not  kept  in  the 
true  path  by  fear  of  punishment."-  It  is  a  notable 
admission ;  but  is  it  not  fair  to  inquire,  What  must 
men  think  of  a  church  which  confesses  that  it  can 
only  bind  its  disciples  to  its  faith  by  fettering  their 
bodies  in  brute  fear  ?  What  must  be  the  nature  of 
a  faith  which  permits  its  exponents  to  esteem  such 
a  course  permissible  ? 

As  for  the  ignorance  of  the  heretics,  that  was 
even  then  a  point  on  which  doctors  disagreed.  At 
a  feast,  Montigny  once  asked  a  strange  cavalier, 
"  Prithee,  friend,  are  there  not  many  Huguenots  in 
Burgundy?"  "Nay,"  was  the  reply;  "nor  should 
we  j)ermit  them  there."  "  Is 't  so  ?"  was  the  retort ; 
"  then  there  can  be  but  very  few  people  of  intelli- 
gence in  that  province,  for  those  who  have  any  wit 
are  mostly  Huguenots."t 

There  was  at  this  time  something  ominous  in 
the  temper  of  the  provinces.  The  wildest  rumors 
were  afoot.  "  The  king  is  recruiting  an  army  for 
our  subjugation,"  said  some.|  "Bauds  already 
hang  on   the  German  border,"  aiffirmed  others.§ 

«  Groen  v.  Prinst,  Archives,  etc.,  torn.  1,  p,  370. 

t  Papiers  d'Etat  de  Granvelle,  torn.  7,  pp.  187,  188. 

J  Arch,  de  la  Maisou  d'Orange-Nassau,  torn.  2,  p.  33.      §  Ibid. 


THE  DEAGON'S  TEETH.  323 

Gaunt  famine,  frequent  forerunner  of  revolution, 
stalked  through  the  land.*  "  Bread !  bread !"  shout- 
ed the  rabble.  Bread  was  doled  out,  and  Marga- 
ret vehemently  proclaimed  that  the  reports  of  her 
royal  brother's  belligerent  intentions  were  false.! 
Apprizing  Philip  of  them,  she  requested  him  to 
brand  them  as  the  lies  of  the  seditious. 

The  king  was  silent. 

In  June,  1565,  an  event  occurred  which  stirred 
new  tumults.  Isabella  of  Spain,  journeying  with 
the  duke  of  Alva  as  her  chaperon,  met  at  Bayonne 
the  queen-mother  of  France,  Catharine  de'  Medici. I 
Ostensibly,  it  was  the  visit  of  a  long-absent  daugh- 
ter to  her  mother;  really,  it  was  an  interview  to 
concoct  an  international  massacre  of  the  French 
and  Low  Country  heretics.§  Spite  of  the  tact  of 
Isabella  and  the  adroitness  of  the  duke,  this  object 
was  not  attained,  as  we  may  learn  from  Alva's  report 
to  Philip ;  because  Catharine,  true  to  her  policy  of 
governing  through  the  division  of  her  foes,  would 
not  destroy  the  balance  of  the  hostile  factions  in 
France  by  exterminating  the  Huguenots.il  St.  Bar- 
tholomew was  only  possible  when  the  reformers 
ceased  to  promote  the  ambition  of  the  wily  dowa- 
ger— and  that  time  was  still  seven  years  off. 

AYrong  in  their  estimate  of  the  result,  the  Neth- 

*  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  378. 
t  Archives  etc.,  ubi  siqjva. 

X  Davihi,  Guerre  Civili  di  Francia,  torn.  1.  p.  348.    Milano,  1807. 
§  Ibid. ,  Brantome,  (Euvres,  torn.  5,  p.  58,  et  seq. 
\\  Alva'.s  letters  are  cited  in  Pafiiers  d'Etat  de  Grauvelle,  torn. 
9,  p.  '181,  et  seq. 


32J:  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

erlanders  were  right  in  their  opinion  of  the  object 
of  this  sinister  interview ;  all  held  it  to  be  a  plot 
against  the  liberties  of  their  country.*  The  gover- 
nant  was  more  than  ever  alarmed,  "I  implore 
you,  sire,  bestir  yourself,  and  contradict  this  ru-' 
mor,"  wrote  she  to  Philip,  in  a  letter  j&lled  with  an 
account  of  the  popular  apprehension  of  the  mean- 
ing of  the  mutiny  at  Bayonne. 

Philip  made  no  response. 

Every  day  the  gloom  grew  deeper  around  Mar- 
garet's throne.  There  were  incessant  conflicts  be- 
tween  the  inquisitors,  bent  on  executing  the  edicts, 
and  the  magistrates,  who  exhausted  the  armory  of 
the  law  in  their  efforts  to  defeat  persecution.'!-  The 
people  were  crazed  with  rage.  Nothing  was  thought 
of  but  the  edicts.  "And  he  terms  this  a  mitiga- 
tion," said  they,  "this  new  order  that  heretics  shall 
be  executed,  not  by  public  burning,  as  heretofore, 
but  secretly,  at  midnight,  in  their  dungeons,  while 
the  inquisitors  hold  the  heads  of  their  victims 
between  their  knees  and  slowly  suffocate  them  in 
tubs  of  water.";|:  "  Can  there  be  viler  slavery," 
demanded  some,  "  than  to  lead  a  trembling  life  in 
the  midst  of  spies  and  informers,  who  register  every 
Avord  we  speak,  note  every  look,  and  put  the  worst 
construction  upon  every  action  ?"§ 

"Well,  then,"  said  a  magistrate  of  Amsterdam 
when  asked  on  one  occasion  to  cooperate  with  the 

»  Hopper,  Kec.  et  Mem.     Hoofd,  Metereu. 

t  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  353. 

I  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  475.  §  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  154. 


THE  DRAGON'S  TEETH.  325 

inquisitors  in  the  execution  of  the  edicts,  "  when  I 
appear  before  the  tribunal  of  God,  I  shall  do  well 
to  have  one  of  your  placards  in  my  hand,  to  observe 
how  far  it  will  bear  me  out  in  the  persecutions."" 

In  the  streets,  in  the  shops,  in  the  taverns,  in 
the  fields;  at  market,  at  church,  at  funerals,  at  wed-^ 
dings;  in  the  noble's  castle,  at  the  farmer's  fireside, 
in  the  mechanic's  garret,  upon  the  merchant's  ex- 
change—  everj'where  the  Inquisition  w^as  the  one 
perpetual  subject  of  shuddering  conversation. f 

The  press,  too,  was  invoked.  Never  since  Kos- 
ter  formed  his  type  had  printing  been  pressed  into 
such  relentless,  unceasing  service. J  Tracts  were 
thrown  off  which  treated  of  the  reciprocal  obliga- 
tions of  the  king  and  the  states  ;§  pamphlets  were 
widely  circulated  which  boldly  pointed  out  the 
perfidy  of  Philip  ;||  the  Netherlands  were  placarded 
with  satirical  verses — lampoons  on  the  bishops,  on 
the  inquisitors,  on  the  governant,  on  the  king  him- 
self;^ notes  were  affixed  to  the  palace  gates  of 
Orange  and  of  Egmont  which  summoned  them  to 
enter  the  lists  against  the  tyrant — "  Rome  awaits 
her  Brutus,"  such  was  their  tenor  ;**  wild  insurrec- 
tionary songs  wailed  through  the  streets, ft  the  pa 
Iras  of  an  earlier  and  grander  struggle  than  that  of 
revolutionary  France  in  1791 ;  for  this  did  not  com- 
mit moral  suicide  by  attempting  to  depose  God. 

«  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  154.  f  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  473. 

J  Arch,  de  la  Maison  d'Orange-Nassau.     Hoofd,  Prescott. 
§  Vandervj-nckt,  Troiibles  des  Pays-Bas,  torn.  1,  p.  97. 
II  Ibid.     Meteren.  •[  Ibid.     Hoofd. 

~'^  Archives,  etc.,  Supplement,  p.  22.        ft  Hoofd,  Metereu. 


326  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

Pale,  sleepless,  affrighted,  Margaret  reported 
these  things  to  her  royal  brother,  and  again  prayed 
him  to  intervene. 

Philip  was  heedless. 

At  last,  the  inquisitors  themselves  were  cowed. 
They  united  their  prayers  to  those  of  Margaret. 
"  Sire,"  wrote  one  of  them,  Michael  de  Bay,  "  be 
merciful,  and  dismiss  us,  or  else  come  to  our  sup- 
port."* 

This  despairing  cry  touched  Philip's  heart. 
"  The  Inquisition  in  danger  !"  exclaimed  he  ;  "  this 
must  be  seen  to."  On  the  17tli  of  October,  1565, 
he  who  had  been  deaf  to  the  prayers  of  Margaret 
of  Parma,  indifferent  to  the  wail  of  an  agonized 
people,  yielded  to  the  entreaties  of  an  inquisitor, 
and  addressed  that  memorable  letter  to  the  duchess, 
from  the  Segovian  forest,  which  determined  the  fate 
of  the  Netherlands.t 

The  royal  rescript  was  to  this  effect : 

"  I  am  surprised  at  the  tumult  which  you  report 
as  rife  in  the  Low  Countries — surprised  at  the 
course  of  the  people — indignant  at  the  conduct  of 
the  nobles.  Whatever  interpretation  Count  Egmont 
may  have  given  to  my  verbal  communications,  it 
never  entered  my  mind  to  think  of  altering  in  any, 
the  slightest  degree,  the  penal  statutes  which  the 
emperor  my  father  published  in  the  provinces 
thirty-five  years  agone.  Those  edicts  I  hereby 
order  to  be  henceforth  rigidly  enforced.     The  In- 

*  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p,  353. 
f  Hopper,  Ecc.  et  Mem.     Strada,  Prescott. 


THE  DEAGON'S  TEETH.  327 

quisition  must  receive  active  support  from  the  sec- 
ular arm.  The  decrees  of  the  council  of  Trent  must 
be  at  once,  and  irrevocably  and  unconditionally  ac- 
knowledged throughout  the  Netherlands.  I  acqui- 
esce fully  in  the  opinion  of  the  conclave  of  bishops 
and  canonists,  as  to  the  sufficiency  of  the  Tridentine 
decrees  as  guides  in  all  points  of  reformation  and 
instruction ;  but  I  do  not  concur  with  them  touch- 
ing the  mitigation  of  punishment  which  they  pro- 
pose in  consideration  of  the  age,  sex,  and  character 
of  offenders;  I  esteem  my  edicts  quite  merciful 
enough  as  they  stand."* 

Here  at  last  was  something  frank,  decisive,  un- 
mistakeable.  For  once  Philip  had  spoken  his  mind, 
the  oracle  had  uttered  its  message  without  recourse 
to  subterfuge.  Surprised  and  agitated,  Margaret 
opened  a  private  note  addressed  to  herself,  hoping 
to  find  some  loophole  through  which  to  escape  from 
the  necessity  of  immediate  obedience  to  this  stern 
mandate.  It  was  useless.  Never  before  had  the  king- 
expressed  his  meaning  so  clearly.  So  with  the  whole 
budget ;  a  few  lines  to  Egmont,  and  responsive  ejDis- 
tles  to  the  inquisitors,  left  no  doubt  as  to  the  mon- 
arch's determination  "  to  frame  mischief  by  a  law." 

The  council  of  state  was  instantly  convened.  The 
despatches  from  Spain  were  read.  "  God  knows 
what  wry  faces  were  made  by  us  on  learning  this 
absolute  will  of  his  majesty,"  affirmed  Viglius.f 
But  even  Yiglius  feared  to  obey  the  royal  mandate. 

*  Summarized  in  Schiller,  p.  471. 

t  Arch,  de  la  Maisou  d'Orauge-Nassau,  torn.  1,  n.  442. 


328  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

Bising  gravely  from  his  seat,  lie  said,  "  Your  higli- 
ness,  it  would  be  the  height  of  folly  in  us  to  think 
of  ^promulgating  the  royal  edict  at  this  perilous 
juncture.  Let  us  apprize  his  majesty  of  the  situa- 
tion, and  meantime  suspend  all  action."" 

All  were  astonished  at  such  advice  from  such  a 
person.  But  the  sensation  was  yet  greater  when 
Orange  rose  to  oppose  delay.  "The  royal  will," 
said  he,  "  is  much  too  clearly  and  precisely  stated ; 
't  is  too  plainly  the  result  of  long  and  mature  delib- 
eration for  us  to  venture  to  delay  its  proclamation." 
"I  take  the  risk;  I  assume  all;  I  oppose  myself  to 
the  king's  displeasure,"  interposed  Vigiius.  "  What," 
continued  the  prince — "  what  have  the  many  repre- 
sentations already  made  effected?  Of  what  avail 
was  the  embassy  so  recently  despatched?  And 
Avhat,  then,  do  we  wait  for?  Shall  we  bring  upon 
ourselves  the  whole  weight  of  the  king's  displeas- 
ure, by  determining  at  our  own  peril  to  render  him 
an  unasked  service — a  service  for  which  it  is  certain 
he  will  never  thank  us  ?"t 

These  short,  sharp  interrogations  frightened  the 
duchess  into  obedience  to  the  royal  mandate.  "  His 
majesty's  decision  must  be  proclaimed,":):  faltered 
she,  certain  that  she  walked  over  a  precipice  which- 
ever path  she  followed,  but  dreading  Philip  even 
more  than  the  mob.  The  die  was  cast;  and  as  the 
council  adjourned,  Orange  tapped  Horn  upon  the 

*  Cited  in  Schiller,  ubi  sup. 

f  Meteren,  torn.  2.     Bor,  torn.  1.     Schiller. 

I  Ibid.     Vita  Viglii. 


THE  DEAGON'S  TEETH.  329 

slioulcler,  and  whispered,  "  Now  we  shall  soon  see 
a  national  tragedy."* 

On  this  occasion  Vigiius  and  the  prince  seem- 
iDgly  changed  roles;  the  spur  became  the  check, 
the  check  became  the  sj)ur.  But  really  there  was 
no  inconsistency ;  each  was  true  to  his  faith.  Vig- 
iius demanded  delay  in  the  interest  of  absolutism, 
imperilled  by  action;  Orange  urged  action  in  the 
interest  of  libertj^  jeoparded  by  delay.  "All  may 
yet  be  gained,"  thought  Vigiius,  "if  we  can  suspend, 
perhaps  mitigate  the  rigor  of  the  law,  till  this  tem- 
]3est  be  stilled."  "Now,"  thought  Orange,  "the 
provinces  are  shut  up  to  resistance  by  despair. 
Delay  will  enable  the  tyrant  by  secret  negotiation 
and  intrigue  to  win  stealthly  what  would  be  denied 
to  force.  The  same  purpose  will  inspire  Spanish 
politics,  only  the  method  of  action  will  become 
more  subtle  and  occult.  We  are  prepared  now — 
no  postponement;  extremity  alone  can  combine 
great  masses  in  unity  of  purpose,  and  move  a  na- 
tion to  bold  action." 

It  should  seem,  therefore,  that  the  adroit  abso- 
lutist and  the  sagacious  patriot  chief  merely  changed 
their  language,  not  their  principles,  their  tactics, 
nor  their  purpose. 

When  it  was  proclaimed  that  the  canons  of  Trent, 
the  existing  edicts,  and  the  Inquisition  were  to  be 
received  and  obeyed  throughout  the  provinces,  the 
decree  was  answered  by  a  howl  of  execration. f  The 
people  were  ready  for  any  method  of  resistance,  as 
*  Vita  Viglii,  p.  45.  'f  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  482.     Vita  Viglii. 


330  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

William  knew  they  would  be.  "The  Netherlands 
are  not  so  stupid,"  many  were  heard  to  say,  "  as 
not  to  know  right  well  what  is  due  from  the  subject 
to  the  sovereign,  and  from  the  king  to  the  people. 
Perhaps  means  may  yet  be  found  to  repel  force  with 
force."*  Pamphlets,  handbills,  pasquils  "  snowed  in 
the  streets."'!-  The  justice  and  the  policy  of  armed 
resistance  to  tyranny  were  openly  inculcated. :t 
Every  honest  soul,  every  patriotic  heart  was  com- 
pelled to  assume  the  Phrygian  cap. 

The  Brabantine  cities  solemnly  denounced  the 
royal  proclamation  as  a  bold  usurpation.!  "We 
entrench  ourselves  behind  our  constitution,"  cried 
Antwerp  and  Brussels  and  Louvain  and  Herzogeu- 
busch;  we  appeal  to  the  law."  Margaret  ordered 
the  council  of  Brabant  to  search  the  archives  of 
the  province  for  precedents.  The  lawyers  looked. 
"Well,"  queried  the  governant,  "what  do  you  find?" 
The  canonists  hesitated  and  equivocated.  "Answer 
me  distinctly,"  said  the  duchess.  "  We  can  find  no 
precedent  for  the  Inquisition,"  was  the  reply.ll  Bra- 
bant was  jubilant.  "  Then  we  will  have  none  of  it," 
shouted  the  sturdy  burghers.  Margaret  acquiesced, 
and  that  province  was  declared  free  of  the  holy 
•  ofiice.l 

Other  states  followed  this  example.  Eminent 
lawyers  counselled  disobedience  to  the  edicts.-* 
Montigny,  Berghen,  Mansfeld  flatly  refused  to  en- 

'■■'  Schiller,  p.  474.  f  Motley,  uU  sup. 

t-  Hoofd,  Metereu.         §  Hopper,  Eec.  et  Mem.,  p.  G3,  ei  seq. 
II  Ibid.,  p.  64.     Hoofd,  torn.  2,  p.  69.  II  Ibid. 

«»  Vita  Viglii.     Bor. 


THE  DRAGON'S  TEETH.  331 

force  the  decrees  Avitbin  tlieir  stadtliolde'rates.  Or- 
ange retired  to  his  town  of  Breda  in  Holland,  where, 
in  observant  repose,  he  watched  the  drift  of  events.* 
"Without  kindling  a  war,"  wrote  he  to  the  duchess, 
"  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to  comply  with  his  maj- 
esty's orders  within  my  government.  If  obedience 
is  insisted  upon,  I  must  beg  that  my  place  may  be 
supplied  by  some  other,  fitter  to  meet  the  royal 
expectations.  As  the  case  now  stands,  I  have  no 
alternative  but  either  to  disobey  the  king,  or  to 
betray  my  country  and  disgrace  myself."t 

Of  all  the  patriot  seigneurs,  Egmont  alone  re- 
mained in  Brussels — Egmont,  ever  vacillating  be- 
tween the  republic  and  the  throne,  ever  wearying 
himself  in  the  vain  attempt  to  unite  the  good  citi- 
zen with  the  obedient  subject.:}:  Margaret,  fearful 
of  displeasing  the  king  by  declaring  for  either  fac- 
tion, now  turned  for  sympathy  and  support  to  Eg- 
mont, who  belonged  to  both  and  to  neither  of  the 
conflicting  parties.§ 

So  ended  the  memorable  year  1565.  "  It  was 
the  last  of  peace  and  happiness,"  sighs  Strada.H 
Yes,  the  last  of  a  peace  which  had  subserviency  for 
its  father  and  fanaticism  for  its  mother ;  the  last  of 
a  happiness  in  which  inquisitori  were  the  sole  par- 
ticipants— which  was  builded  upon  murder,  and 
cemented  in  the  blood  of  martyrs. 

«  Schiller,  p.  476.     Meteren.  f  Ibid.  $  Ibid. 

^  Schiller.  ||  Strada,  p.  97. 


332  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

CHAPTEE  XXII. 

"THE   BEGGARS." 

In  the  afternoon  of  a  day  in  the  early  spring  of 
1566,  Margaret  of  Parma,  lounging  in  her  conncil- 
chamber,  Avas  listening  half -inattentively  to  a  drowsy 
discussion  of  routine  affairs.  The  meeting  was  infor- 
mal. Egmont  was  seated  at  the  board;  and  among 
the  councillors  towered  the  stately  form  of  the  prince 
of  Orange,  who  had  been  called  to  town  for  a  day  or 
two  by  business.  "  Well,"  said  the  duchess  with  a 
light  laugh,  in  response  to  some  inquiry,  "I  think — " 

The  sentence  was  checked  in  the  utterance  by 
the  precipitate  appearance  of  Count  Meglien,  an 
ultraraontanist  with  liberal  proclivities,  who  burst 
into  the  apartment  pale,  nervous,  breathless.  "Par- 
don me,"  said  he,  replying  to  the  mute  look  of  inter- 
rogation turned  upon  him  by  the  councillors;  "but 
I  beg  you  to  postpone  Avhat  matters  are  before 
the  board ;  I  have  an  important  announcement  to 
make."  Then  addressing  the  governant,  he  con- 
tinued :  "  Madame,  I  have  just  received  information 
from  one  whom  I  trust,  and  who  is,  moreover,  an 
affectionate  servant  of  the  king — though,  tongue- 
tied  by  promise,  I  may  not  give  his  name— that  a 
very  extensive  conspiracy  of  heretics  has  been 
formed  both  within  and  without  the  Netherlands ; 
that  the  leaguers  have  a  force  of  thirty-five  thou- 


"THE  BEGGAES."  333 

sand  men,  horse  and  foot,  now  ready  for  action  ; 
and  that  they  are  about  to  take  arms,  unless  they 
are  assured  of  an  immediate  and  formal  concession 
of  entire  liberty  of  conscience.  Within  a  week,  fif- 
teen hundred  cavaliers  will  appear,  to  demand  so 
much,  here  in  Brussels,  before  your  highness."^' 

This  startling  announcement  was  confirmed  by 
Egmont.  "  So  also  speaks  my  information ;  but  with 
this  addition,  that  these  men  are  leagued  to  revolu- 
tionize the  government,"  said  he.  "  Here,  madame," 
he  continued,  "  are  the  precise  words  of  the  new- 
fledged  cabal."t 

Margaret  was  speechless  with  astonishment. 
"Your  highness,"  drily  interposed  the  prince, 
"  there  is  a  modicum  of  truth  in  what  you  hear, 
but  dame  Eumor  has  absurdly  exaggerated  the 
story.  'T  is  not  an  armed  league  against  the 
throne,  though  certes  it  may  groAV  to  that,  but  an 
organized  protest  against  the  Inquisition.":]: 

A  stormy  and  indecisive  debate  ensued.  "  I 
shall  order  an  immediate  assembly  of  the  nota- 
bles," said  the  duchess ;  whereupon  she  retired  to 
her  cabinet,  to  report  this  new  danger  to  Philip. 
"  Sire,"  she  wrote,  "  the  time  has  come  for  you  to 
take  up  arms,  or  to  make  large  concessions."§ 

What  did  this  rumor  mean?  What  were  the 
facts  which  spawned  it  ? 

Some  months  previous  to  this  scene  in  the  comi- 

»  Hooftl,  torn.  2,  pp.  71,  72.  Hopper,  Kec.  et  Mem.,  p.  G9, 
et  seq.  t  Hopper,  Kec.  et  Mem.,  p.  70. 

I  Ibid.  §  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  509. 


334  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

cil-cliamber,  in  the  feverish  November  of  1565,  a 
double  wedding  was  celebrated  at  Brussels  with 
lavish  magnificence.  The  fated  Montigny  espoused 
a  princess  of  the  noble  house  of  d'Espinay,  and  was 
to  be  called  ere  long  to  leave  his  bridal-chamber  for 
an  imprisonment  which  ended  in  a  bloody  death ;  and 
Margaret's  son,  Alexander  of  Parma,  who  had  come 
back  with  Egmont  from  Spain,  where  he  had  been 
educated,  married  the  j'oung  and  beautiful  Donna 
Maria  of  Portugal.* 

All  the  world  crowded  up  to  Brussels  to  witness 
the  fetes.  The  ancient  halls  of  the  old  dukes  of  Bra- 
bant, in  whose  palace  the  regent  resided,  were 
thronged  by  the  loveliest  women  and  the  courtliest 
nobles  of  the  age  —  soldiers,  poets,  artists,  giddy 
with  gayety.  Smiles  which  cost  a  diamond  each, 
wit  which  was  paid  a  handful  of  gold  a  mof,  abounded. 
Jousts  and  feastings  made  ultramontanism  oblivi- 
ous for  an  hour  of  the  brooding  revolt ;  the  peal  of 
merry  marriage-bells  drowned  for  an  instant  the 
wail  of  national  despair. 

In  the  midst  of  this  mad  revelry,  while  the  cour- 
tiers and  the  triflers  of  the  clubs  floated  themselves 
in  dinner-stories  and  the  gossip  of  the  town,  a  sober 
company  of  twenty  gentlemen  were  listening  to  a 
sermon  in  the  palace  of  Count  Culemberg.f  The 
preacher  was  Francis  Junius,  a  dissenting  minister 
then  settled  in  Alitwerp,  and  now  in  Brussels  by 
invitation.     Young,  eloquent,  scholarly,  Junius  had 

•"■  Strada,  p.  92,  et  seq. 

f  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  162.     Vita  Junii,  p.  14,  et  seq. 


"THE  BEGGARS."  335 

studied  divinity  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Calvin  at  Ge- 
neva, and  he  had  proved  his  faith  after  the  apos- 
tolic pattern,  "  in  much  patience,  in  afHictious,  in 
necessities,  in  distresses;"*  on  one  occasion  advo- 
cating the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation  with  seren- 
ity in  a  room  overlooking  the  Antwerp  market- 
place, where  at  tliat  very  moment  several  of  his 
parishioners  were  being  martyred,  while  the  light  of 
the  flames  in  which  their  bodies  were  sheeted  flick- 
ered up  through  the  glass  windows  of  the  conven- 
ticle.t 

Now  in  Culemb erg-house,  Junius  preached  with 
his  accustomed  power.  A  grave  conversation  fol- 
lowed his  sermon,  and  it  was  decided  that  a  league 
should  be  formed  against  the  Inquisition.:}: 

A  little  later  this  purpose  was  matured  by  a 
secret  gathering  at  the  baths  of  Spa.  A  paper 
call  the  "Compromise"  was  drawn  up,  by  which  its 
signers  bound  themselves  to  oppose  the  holy  office, 
and  to  defend  each  other  against  all  the  consequen- 
ces of  this  resistance. § 

The  original  copy  of  this  covenant  bore  but 
three  names,  those  of  Brederode,  Charles  Mans- 
feld,  and  Louis  of  Nassau  ;||  but  it  was  speedily 
translated  into  half  a  dozen  different  tongues,  and 
distributed  throughout  the  provinces  by  scores  of 
deft  hands.    Within  sixty  days,  two  thousand  names 

•~  2  Cor.  6 : 4.  ■  j  Brandt,  uhi  sup. 

:j:  Brandt,  Vita  Juuii,  ut  antea. 

§  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  494. 

11  Ibid.     Archives  et  Correspondance,  torn.  2,  p.  2,  et  seq. 


336  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

were  appended  to  the  muster-roll  of  patriotism.* 
The  signatures  represented  all  classes — nobles, 
burghers,  merchants,  reformers,  Eomanists,  priests, 
men  of  all  creeds  and  of  none,  various  lives  flooded 
into  one  bj  common  anxieties.  Ostensibly,  it  was 
a  league  against  the  Inquisition ;  the  motives  were 
not  the  same  with  all,  but  the  pretext  was  similar. 
The  papists  desired  to  compass  by  it  a  mere  miti- 
gation of  the  too  cruel  edicts  ;  the  Protestants  aimed 
through  it  at  toleration  ;  traders  esteemed  it  a  good 
business  investment ;  the  needy  and  turbulent  hailed 
it  as  synonymous  with  anarchy ;  a  few  keen  souls 
recognized  it  as  a  step  towards  revolution. f  This 
was  the  strength  and  the  weakness  of  the  union ; 
the  strength,  for  it  gave  it  numbers ;  the  weakness, 
because  it  rested  on  an  abnormal,  heterogeneous 
basis,  sure  to  crumble  in  a  crucial  hour.  But  these 
were  its  halcyon  days.  To  sign  the  "  Compromise  " 
became  the  rage.  It  received  the  imprimatur  of 
fashion,  one  of  the  most  potent  of  forces ;  and  this 
blind  Samson  gave  it  the  highest  and  the  subtlest 
of  social  distinctions. 

At  this  time  the  movement  was  officered  by 
three  individuals,  Brederode,  Louis  of  Nassau,  and 
Sainte  Aldegonde,']:  men  variously  able  and  eminent. 
Sainte  Aldegonde  especially,  was  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  characters  of  his  time;    and  his  motto, 

*  Correspomlance  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  I,  p.  400.     StracLi. 

1  Schiller,  p.  384, 

X  Strada,  Metereu,  Vandervynckt,  Van  der  Haer. 


"THE  BECtGAES."  337 

"Hepos  ailleurs,'"  seemed  to  indicate  that  the  Sidney 
of  the  Netherlands,  content  with  "  rest  hereafter," 
lent  his  earthl}^  career  to  the  stormy  service  of  man- 
kind. 

Below  Brederode  and  Nassau  and  Sainte  Alde- 
gonde  stood  Van  Hammes,  or  "  Golden  Fleece,"  as 
he  was  styled  from  his  connection  with  that  order, 
whose  king-at-arms  he  was,  bluff,  honest,  tireless, 
and  Count  Culemburg,  and  Charles  Mansfeld,  who 
soon  fell  off,  and  a  host  of  others  inferior  in  po- 
sition, but  not  in  activit}^  to  the  chiefs  of  the 
league.* 

The  grandees  were  not  among  the  signers  of 
the  "  Compromise."!  Orange  would  not  identify 
his  name  with  a  movement  officered  by  such  a  blun- 
dering swaggerer  as  Brederode ;  he  reserved  him- 
self for  a  higher  hour.  Besides,  he  was  still  in  the 
nominal  confidence  of  the  king,  in  whose  name 
he  held  his  stadtholderates.  Horn  followed  the 
prince's  lead.  Egmont  feared  to  compromise  his 
relations  with  the  court.  But  though  the  seigneurs 
thus  held  themselves  aloof,  the  leaguers  well  knew 
that  their  protest  against  the  subjection  of  the  an- 
cient liberties  of  the  Netherlands  to  the  fanatical 
whims  of  a  junta  of  foreigners  sitting  a*t  Madrid 
awoke  an  echo  in  the  hearts  of  the  patriot  lords ; 
while  tlie}^  gained  fresh  confidence  from  the  refusal 
of  the  stadtholders  to  enforce  the  execution  of  the 
inquisitorial  laws,  and  to  countenance  a  human  bou- 

*  Correspondance  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1. 
t  Ibid.,  Stmda,  Prescott. 


338  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

fire  of  sixty  tlioiisand  victims  ;-  and  from  the  acces- 
sion to  their  ranks  of  the  rehitives,  friends,  and 
retainers  of  the  great  famihes.  If  Orange  was  not 
a  leaguer,  Nassau  was ;  if  Egmout  stood  aside,  his 
secretary  was  deep  in  the  plot.t 

Nor  was  the  prince  averse  to  using  the  league 
as  a  counter  in  his  game.  He  was  aware  that  states- 
manship wastes  no  strength — utilizes  all  elements. 
He  also  knew,  none  better,  that  Philip  was  inflexi- 
bly bent  upon  the  establishment  of  the  Inquisition. 
The  tortuous  politics  of  Madrid  were  an  open  book 
to  him.  The  real  views,  the  secret  purposes,  the 
minutice  of  the  plans  of  the  king  were  regularly  for- 
warded to  William  by  spies — the  eyes  and  ears  of 
princes — in  his  pay  and  in  Philip's  service.;!:  Thus 
it  was  that  Machiavelli  the  patriot  outwitted  Machi- 
avelli  the  tyrant. 

With  the  heart  of  Philip  in  his  hand.  Orange 
knew  that  to  defeat  his  wily  opponent's  plots,  it  was 
necessary  to  make  the  most  of  all  the  elements  of 
opposition  in  the  Netherlands  ;  therefore  he  watched 
the  league. 

Early  in  March,  1566,  he  was  informed  that  the 
leaguers  were  about  to  assemble  at  Breda  for  the 

■™  Corresp.  de  PhiliiDpe  II. 

t  Schiller,  Proces  Criminels  des  Comtes  d'Egmont. 

X  There  was  one  man  especially  who  was  very  useful  to  Orange 
in  this  capacity,  a  certain  John  of  Castile,  clerk  to  Andi-eas  de  las 
Layas,  the  king's  secretary ;  he,  for  a  pension  of  three  hundi-ed 
crowns,  betrayed  to  the  prince  all  the  secrets  of  his  master ;  and 
as  nearly  all  the  affairs  of  the  Netherlands  were  entrusted  to  the 
hands  of  his  master,  the  spy  had  ample  means  of  acquiring  the 
fullest,  most  valuable  information.     Bor.,  book  \(\,  bl.  288. 


"THE  BEGGAKS."  339 

purpose  of  drawing  up  a  petition  to  the  regent 
against  the  holy  office.*  Under  pretence  of  an  invi- 
tation to  a  grand  dinner  —for  it  was  a  peculiarity 
of  the  Netherlands  that  there  the  most  elaborate 
schemes  were  either  hidden  under  a  platter  or  cra- 
dled at  banquets — the  prince  summoned  a  number 
of  the  seigneurs  to  meet  him  at  the  same  time  and 
place.f  At  his  table,  Horn,  Egmont,  Berghen, 
Montigny,  and  the  rest,  met  Brederode  and  a  dep- 
utation of  the  league.  A  conference  ensued,  which 
was  soon  adjourned  to  the  town  of  Hoogstraaten. 

Orange  had  a  twofold  object  in  this  meeting; 
he  wished  to  persuade  the  magnates  to  demand  the 
convocation  of  the  states-general,  and  he  desired 
to  win  the  leaguers  to  moderate  the  tone  of  their 
forthcoming  petition. |  He  failed  to  compass  his 
first  purpose  ;  the  seigneurs,  alarmed  at  the  league, 
would  not  cooperate  with  it,  even  to  the  extent  of 
asking  for  the  states-general.§  He  w^as  more  suc- 
cessful with  the  Covenanters ;  in  obedience  to  his 
request,  they  softened  the  tone,  but  adhered  to  the 
object,  of  their  petition.il 

So  much  for  the  inception  of  the  "compromise ;" 
and  this  was  the  situation  when  Margaret  was  ap- 
prized of  its  existence  by  Count  Meghen. 

True  to  her  promise,  the  governant  jDublished  a 
call  for  a  convention  of  the  notables ;  and  letters 
were  sent  to  Orange  and  Horn  urgently  requesting 

"  Motlej%  vol.  1,  p.  50G.     Stracla.  f  I^itl. 

J  Ibid.  §  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  507. 

11  Ibid. 


340  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

tliem  to  resume  their  seats  in  tlie  council  of  state.* 
Other  portents  besides  the  league  made  the  duchess 
tremble.  The  Netherlands  seemed  on  the  eve  of 
depopulation.  Thirty  thousand  refugees  had  quit- 
ted the  provinces  and  taken  shelter  under  the 
throne  of  Elizabeth.f  Trade  itself  was  an  emigrant. 
From  time  immemorial,  silk  and  woollen  stuffs  had 
formed  the  staple  of  an  immense  export  trade  from 
the  Low  Countries  to  England.  Now  the  current 
was  turned.  The  wise  policy  of  Britain  encouraged 
the  immigration  of  the  Netherlands  handicraftsmen. 
Norwich  and  Sandwich  were  especially  assigned  to 
them  ;  and  the  cunning  islanders  soon  acquired  the 
secret  of  their  craft.  "  The  Low  Countries,"  wrote 
Assonleville  to  Granvelle,  "  are  the  Indies  of  the 
English,  who  make  war  upon  our  purses  as  the 
French,  some  years  ago,  made  war  upon  our 
towns."!  This  was  sad  ;  but  it  was  natural  that 
commerce  and  manufactures  should  hasten  to  es- 
cape from  a  doomed  land.§ 

On  the  28th  of  March,  1566,  the  notables  assem- 
bled at  Brussels.ll  "  Gentlemen,"  said  Margaret, 
"  I  have  summoned  you  that  you  may  prevent,  by 
your  counsels  and  endeavors,  the  impending  evils. 
And  the  first  question  which  I  have  to  ask  is,  Shall 
this  petition  be  received  ?"1F 

Barlaiment  opposed  its  reception.    "What  need," 

»  Braudt,  vol.  1,  p.  163  ;  Strada,  Schiller, 
f  Assonleville  to  Gi-anvelle,  in  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1, 
p.  392.  t  Ibid.  §  Motley. 

II  Cor.  de  Philiijpe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  403,  el  seq. 
fl[  Strada,  p.  103. 


"THE  BEGGAES."  341 

queried  he,  "that  so  many  people  should  deliver  one 
petition  ?  Let  us  either  close  the  ports — which  I 
favor ;  or  else  admit  but  one  man  with  this  paper, 
and  if  he  carry  himself  contumaciously,  let  him  be 
forthwith  punished."* 

Orange  rose  and  rebuked  this  truculent  lan- 
guage. "  Let  the  petitioners  be  admitted  to  an 
audience,"  said  he.  "  Treat  them  with  respect. 
Many  of  them  are  my  friends — some  of  them  my 
relations ;  and  there  is  no  reason  for  refusing  to 
gentlemen  of  their  rank  a  right  wdiich  belongs  to 
the  poorest  plebeian  in  the  land."t 

The  ultramontanists  supported  Barlaiment;  the 
patriots  sided  with  the  prince.  Finall}^,  it  was  de- 
cided to  receive  the  petitioners,  who  were  to  come 
unarmed  ;  and  at  nightfall  the  assembly  adjourned 
till  the  morrow.:!: 

On  the  following  morning,  the  notables  reassem- 
bled. The  governant  again  opened  the  session  with 
a  speech,  in  which  she  apologized  for  the  edicts, 
affirmed  that  the  seigneurs  had  approved  them,  but 
asserted  that  she  had  no  wish  to  influence  the  suf- 
frage of  the  lieges.  "  And  now,"  concluded  she, 
"  the  question  is.  What  answer  shall  be  made  to  the 
petition  ?"§ 

Opinions  were  divided.  The  courtiers  favored 
war ;  the  patriots  urged  concession ;  Margaret  in- 
clined to  temporize  until  the  royal  will  could  be 

*  Strada,  p.  103. 

t  Ibid.,  Van  der  Haer,  Poutus  Payeu  MS. 

J  Strada,  uhi  sup.  §  Ibid. 


342  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

ascertained.  But  an  appeal  to  arms  was  absurd, 
since  the  leaguers  Avere  prepared  for  it,  while  the 
court  exchequer  was  empty,  and  it  was  suspected 
that  the  few  troops  in  the  king's  pay  had  been  sub- 
orned. As  for  delay,  it  was  suggested  that  the  con- 
federates would  hardly  permit  themselves  to  be 
amused  instead  of  answered.  Orange  pleaded 
boldly,  convincingly,  unanswerably  for  concession. 
Rising  gravely,  he  said  : 

"Would  to  heaven  I  had  been  so  happy  as  to 
have  gained  credence  at  the  outset,  when  I  foretold 
what  has  now  come  to  pass.  Then  the  last  meas- 
ures would  not  have  been  first  invoked,  nor  would 
errorists  have  been  made  desperate  by  the  extre- 
mest  expedients.  Would  not  that  physician  be 
thought  out  of  his  wits,  who,  instead  of  using  gentle 
medicines  in  the  commencement  of  disease,  should 
begin  by  burning  or  cutting  off  the  infected  part  ? 

"  Now,  on  one  point  we  are  unanimous :  we  all 
wish  to  secure  religion — but  we  differ  as  to  the 
means.  The  Inquisition  is  one  way.  There  are 
two  kinds  of  Inquisition  :  the  one  is  exercised  in 
the  name  of  the  pope,  and  the  other  has  been  long 
practised  by  the  bishops.  To  this  last,  men  are  in 
some  measure  reconciled  by  the  force  of  custom ; 
and  considering  how  well  we  are  now  provided  with 
bishops  in  these  states,  it  would  seem  that  this  sort 
should  alone  suffice.  As  to  the  other,  the  repug- 
'jnance  of  the  people  is  manifest.  This  must  be 
appeased,  if  we  would  not  have  it  burst  into  rebel- 
lion.    With  the  recent  death  of  Pius  IV.,  the  full 


"THE  BEGGABS."  343 

powers  of  tlie  papal  inquisitors  have  expired ;  tlie 
new  pontiff  lias,  as  yet,  sent  no  ratification  of  tlieir 
authority.  Now,  therefore,  is  the  time  when  it  can 
be  suspended  without  wrong  to  any  part3^ 

"  So,  too,  with  the  edicts :  the  exigency  which 
evoked  them  has  passed.  Heed  not  me,  but  listen 
to  experience ;  and  does  not  that  teach  that  perse- 
cution increases  error  ?  and  that  the  severity  of  the 
punishment  is  a  temptation  to  the  sin?  The  Neth- 
erlands have,  of  late  years,  been  a  school,  in  which, 
if  we  have  not  been  extremely  inattentive,  w^e  might 
have  learned  the  folly  of  persecution.  Have  not 
many  been  drawn  fi'om  the  church  by  the  contem- 
plation of  the  heroism  and  serenity  of  those  who 
have  received  the  death-sentence  as  an  invitation 
to  a  wedding,  running  with  joy  to  the  fiery  trial  ? 
Such  spectacles  work  on  popular  comr)assion,  excite 
universal  sympathy,  and  create  a  suspicion  that  the 
truth  must  certainl}^  be  found  where  so  much  con- 
stancy and  fortitude  are  found. 

"  Now,  these  are  the  bitter  j^ills  which  have 
been  administered  to  patients  in  England  and  in 
France,  and  now  here  with  us ;  but  with  what  suc- 
cess? Let  the  incredible  progress  Avhich  the  new 
religion  has  made  respond.  Well  might  it  be  said 
by  the  Christians  of  old  that  '  the  blood  of  the  mar- 
tyrs is  the  seed  of  the  church.'  The  emperor  Julian, 
the  most  formidable  enemy  whom  Christianity  ever 
saw%  was  sensible  of  this  truth.  He  had  recourse, 
therefore,  to  the  weapons  of  ridicule  and  contempt; 
and  these  he  found   far   more  effective   than   the 


344  THE   DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

use  of  force.  Force  makes  no  impression  on  the 
conscience — serves,  in  sootli,  but  to  awaken  zeal ; 
wliich  liberty,  ease,  and  idleness  soon  lay  asleep. 

"  The  Greek  empire  was,  at  different  periods, 
infected  with  various  heresies.  Arius  taught  errors 
in  the  reign  of  Constantino  ;  Hetius,  in  that  of  Con- 
stance ;  and  Nestorius  under  Theodosius.  No  such 
punishments  were  inflicted,  either  on  the  heresiarchs 
themselves,  or  on  their  disciples,  as  are  now  prac- 
tised in  the  Netherlands.  Banishment  was  the 
penalty ;  and  though  there  were  blood-edicts,  they 
were  only  in  tcrrorem.  Yet  where  are  all  those 
false  opinions  now?  Heresy  is  like  iron  in  its  na- 
ture :  if  it  rests,  it  rusts  ;  but  he  who  rubs  it,  whets 
it.  If  it  is  neglected,  it  loses  its  novelt}-,  and  with 
that  its  attractiveness.  "Why  have  not  we  content- 
ed ourselves  with  similar  measures?  Surely  exam- 
ple is  the  best  and  safest  of  guides. 

"  But  what  need  to  go  to  pagan  antiquity  for 
guidance  and  example  ?  A  precedent  is  at  hand  : 
Charles  V.,  the  greatest  of  kings,  himself  taught  by 
experience,  for  some  years  before  his  abdication 
abandoned  the  blood-path  of  persecution  and  adoj^t- 
ed  milder  curbs  for  heresy.  The  king  of  Sj^ain, 
our  prince,  seemed  inclined,  at  one  time,  to  walk  in 
the  steps  of  the  great  emperor,  his  father,  and  to 
make  trial  of  gentler  expedients.  Through  the  in- 
fluence of  ecclesiastics,  he  has  changed  his  views : 
let  these  men  answer  for  their  conduct,  if  they  can. 
For  my  own  part,  I  am  satisfied  that  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  root  out  the  new  creed  in  these  provinces 


"THE  BEGGARS."  345 

without  also  plucking  up  the  foundations  of  the 
state. 

"  I  conclude  with  reminding  your  highness,  and 
you,  seigneurs,  of  the  connection  which  subsists  be- 
tween the  French  reformers  and  the  Flemish  Prot- 
estants. Beware,  lest  in  acting  the  part  of  the 
French  Romanists  towards  them,  they  be  driven  to 
play  the  Huguenots  with  us.  Then,  adieu  pros- 
perity, farewell  peace ;  for  our  country  would  be 
plunged  into  the  horrors  of  a  civil  war."* 

This  massive  plea  beat  down  all  opposition :  it 
was  decided  in  advance  that  concessions  should  be 
niade.t 

On  the  3d  of  April,  15G6,  in  the  gray  of  the 
evening,  the  petitioners  entered  Brussels.  At  the 
head  of  two  hundred  cavaliers  rode  Brederode  ; 
and  as  the  horsemen  wheeled  slowly  through  the 
streets,  they  were  Avildly  cheered  by  the  symx^athetic 
populace.^  Twelve  hours  later,  Culemberg  and 
Yan  den  Berg  came  into  town,  bringing  with  them 
a  hundred  more  cavaliers  to  swell  the  retinue  of 
the  league.  § 

Two  days  afterwards,  the  confederates,  three 
hundred  strong,  met  at  Culemberg  House,  and 
there  forming  in  procession,  marched  two  abreast 
up  the  straight,  handsome  street  to  the  summit  of 
the  hill  where  stood  the  ancient  palace  of  the  Bra- 

*  Bergundias,  Hist.  Belg.,  lib.  2.     Vide  Braudt,  vol.  1,  p.  1G4 

f  Strada,  p.  106.     Hopper. 

J  Bor.,  torn.  2,  p.  58.    Cor.  de  Philippe  IL 

§  Ibid. 

15* 


346  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

bantine  dukes,  and  where  Margaret  was  to  give 
tliem  audience.*  And  now  again,  as  the  petitioners, 
young,  titled,  and  splendidly  attired,  pressed  for- 
ward, the  thronging  masses  greeted  those  whom 
they  esteemed  the  deliverers  of  the  laud  with  deaf- 
ening shouts  of  welcome  and  Godspeed. t 

The  palace  was  soon  reached ;  and  there,  seated 
on  her  throne  of  state  and  surrounded  by  the  Neth- 
erland  grandees,  was  the  governant,  waiting  to 
receive  her  unwelcome  visitors.  Brederode,  alwaj^s 
unabashed,  opened  the  interview  with  a  low  obei- 
sance and  a  few  commonplaces.  Then  the  petition 
was  read.  It  made  two  demands.  The  duchess 
was  requested  to  send  an  envoy  to  Madrid  humbly 
to  implore  the  king  to  abolish  the  edicts;  mean- 
time, she  was  asked  to  suspend  the  Inquisition  un- 
til Philip's  pleasure  should  be  known,  and  until  new 
ordinances,  made  by  the  king  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  states-general  duly  assembled,  should 
be  established. 'I 

Margaret  listened  with  emotion,  and  promised 
to  return  an  answer  after  consultation  with  her 
councillors.§     The  petitioners  withdrew. 

An  excited  debate  ensued.  Orange  defended  the 
confederates  against  the  charge  of  being  seditious 
rebels.  Egmont,  on  being  asked  his  opinion,  shrug- 
ged his  shoulders,  and  said,  "  It  will  be  necessary 
for  me  to  leave  court  for  a  space,  as  I  Avish  to  visit 

«  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  512.  f  Ibid. 

J  See  the  petition  in  Brandt,  vol.  1,  pp.  161,  165. 
§  Hopper,  Eec.  et  Mem.     Motley. 


"THE  BEGGARS."  347 

the  baths  of  Aix  for  an  inflammation  which  I  have 
in  the  leg."*  Barlaiment  was  in  a  passion ;  and  it 
was  now  that  he  uttered  that  taunt  which  gave  a 
name  to  the  patriot  party,  destined  to  become  as 
immortal  as  that  given  to  the  French  reformers 
when  they  were  stigmatized  as  "  Huguenots." 
"Madame,"  said  he,  "is  it  possible  that  you  can 
entertain  fears  of  these  gueiix\ — beggars  ?  Is  it  not 
obvious  that  they  are  broken  spendthrifts  plotting 
for  gain  in  anarchy?  They  have  not  wisdom 
enough  to  manage  their  own  estates ;  how,  then, 
shall  they  teach  your  highness  how  to  govern  the 
country?  By  the  living  God,  if  my  advice  were 
taken,  they  should  have  a  cudgel  for  a  commentary. 
I  would  send  them  down  the  steps  of  the  palace 
much  faster  than  they  mounted  them. "J  This 
advice  was  congenial  to  Margaret,  but  she  dared 
not  follow  it. 

On  the  morning  of  the  6tli  of  April,  the  confed- 
erates came  before  the  regent  for  an  answer  to  their 
request.  It  was  written  on  the  margin  of  the  peti- 
tion, and  was  to  this  effect :  "  Her  highness  has  no 
authority  to  suspend  the  edicts ;  but  she  will  de- 
spatch envoys  to  acquaint  his  majesty  with  your 
demands.  Meantime  she  will  order  all  inquisitors 
to  proceed  modestly  and  discreetly  in  their  office. "§ 

The  petitioners  took  the  paper,  and  retired  to 

*  Pontus  Payen  MS.     Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  515. 
t  The  word  cjueux  means  not  only  a  beggar,  but  a  sturdy  beg- 
gar.    Vide  Brandt,  ubi  sup. 

X  Pontus  Payen  MS.     Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  515. 
§  Groen  v.  Prinst.,  torn.  2,  p.  84.  et  »eq.     Bor.     Strada. 


348  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

consult.  They  were  not  satisfied  with  the  reply.* 
It  was  characterized  as  a  quibble — as  an  evasion. 
On  the  8th  of  April,  Brederode  and  his  comrades 
once  more  craved  audience  of  the  duchess.  They^ 
were  admitted.  "  Madame,"  asked  Brederode,  "  is 
this  all  that  you  can  say?"  "It  is,"  was  the  curt 
reply ;  "  I  will  send  envoys  to  the  king ;  and  here 
before  me  are  instructions  already  drawn  up,  ready 
to  be  transmitted  to  the  inquisitori.  I  can  do*  no 
more."  "At  least  permit  our  request  to  be  print- 
ed," said  Brederode.  "  It  shall  be  so,"  replied  the 
duchess.  "  Will  you  not  also  declare  that  we  have 
done  nothing  inconsistent  with  loyalty  to  the  king?" 
queried  the  pertinacious  spokesman.  Margaret's 
lip  curled.  "  Of  that  I  cannot  judge,"  said  she ; 
"  time  must  determine. "t 

Forced  to  rest  content  with  these  assurances, 
the  leaguers  chose  four  directors  for  the  manage- 
ment of  their  affairs,  who  were  to  remain  in  Brus- 
sels ;  and  at  the  same  time,  local  committees  were 
appointed  to  see  that  the  peace  was  kept  in  the 
provinces,  and  to  insure  that  the  governant  should 
keep  her  promises :  |  then  they  prepared  to  sep- 
arate. 

Before  the  separation,  however,  Brederode,  who 
thought  that  an  object  was  never  consummated 
until  it  was  crowned  by  a  dinner,  invited  the  three 
hundred  to  a  banquet  at  Culemburg  House.§     As 

*  Hopper,  Bor.  t  Ibid.    Strada,  p.  108. 

J  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  16G.     Bor.    Hopper. 
§  Strada.    Bentivoglio,  torn.  2.    Hopper. 


"THE  BEGGARS."  349 

was  usual  when  Brederode  was  host,  there  was  a 
wild  carouse.  After  the  most  sumptuous  of  dinners, 
the  wine  began  to  flow,  and  the  noble  bacchanals 
never  wearied  of  drinking  the  health  of  the  cause, 
of  Brederode,  of  Egmont,  of  Orange. 

Drunk  with  wine  and  hot  with  patriotic  fervor, 
the  company  began  to  canvass  the  prospects  of  the 
league,  when  some  one  asked,  "  What  shall  be  the 
name  of  our  union  ?"  With  drunken  gravity  Brede- 
rode rose.  "I  am  prej^ared  to  answer  tbat  ques- 
tion," hiccoughed  he.  "'Tis  said  that  good  Bar- 
laiment  styled  us  gueux  in  open  council.  Beggars 
for  our  rights  we  are  :  let  us  accept  the  name.  We 
will  contend  with  the  Inquisition,  but  remain  loyal 
to  the  king,  even  till  compelled  to  wear  the  beggar's 
sack.  Gentlemen,  pledge  me  the  beggars  —  Vivent 
les  giieuxT 

The  mad-brained  company  sprang  to  their  feet 
and  drained  their  goblets  in  honor  of  the  toast  with 
boisterous  excitement.  Tlien,  for  the  first  time, 
and  on  the  tipsy  lips  of  reckless  nobles,  was  heard 
the  famous  cry  which  was  to  ring  over  land  and 
sea,  amid  blazing  cities,  on  blood-stained  decks, 
through  the  smoke  and  carnage  of  many  a  stricken 
field. 

Brederode's  humor  was  not  yet  exhausted.  Seiz- 
ing a  leathern  wallet  and  a  wooden  bowl,  the  regu- 
lar appurtenances  of  the  mendicants  of  the  time,  he 
slung  the  first  about  his  neck,  and  again  drained  the 
bowl  to  the  cry  of  "  Vimnt  les  guenx .'"  Each  guest 
in  turn  donned  the  beggar's  knapsack  and  took  the 


350  THE  DUTCH  KEFORMATION. 

bowl ;  and  wlien  the  circuit  of  the  table  had  been 
made,  wallet  and  bowl  were  suspended  to  a  pillar 
of  the  hall.  The  rites  bj  which  the  league  received 
its  name  were  completed  by  the  repetition  of  an 
impromptu  distich,  which  Avas  solemnly  chanted  by 
all,  as  each  in  succession  threw  salt  into  his  goblet, 
and  placed  himself  under  the  suspended  symbol  of 
the  brotherhood : 

"  By  this  salt,  by  this  bread,  by  this  wallet  we  sweai-, 

These  beggars  ne'er  will  change,  though  the  world  should  stare." 

The  wassail  was  at  its  wildest  when  Orange  and 
Horn  and  Egmont  entered  the  apartment  in  search 
of  Hoogstraaten,  whom  they  wished  to  carry  away 
with  them.  They  were  at  once  surrounded  and 
compelled  to  drink  to  the  health  of  the  beggars — 
which  they  did,  not  knowing  what  the  pledge  meant. 
Their  presence  brought  the  festivities  to  a  prema- 
ture close,  and  the  riotous  cavaliers  staggered  off 
to  bed.* 

What  they  had  resolved  upon  while  drunk,  the 
confederates  prepared  to  perform  when  sober.  They 
knew  the  value  of  a  striking  and  original  name.  In 
the  epithet  gucux  their  opponents  had  given  them 
precisely  what  they  wanted.  The  word  "  beggars," 
while  it  cloaked  their  entesprise  in  humility,  was  at 
the  same  time  appropriate  to  them  as  petitioners. 
What,  then,  could  be  better  than  to   adopt   this 

'•  This  scene  is  narrated  in  full  by  most  contemporaneous 
chroniclers.  An  account  of  it  is  also  given  by  JSIotley — vol.  1, 
pp.  519-523— and  by  Prescott.     . 


"THE  BEGGAES."  351 

name  of  gueux,  and  to  borrow  from  it  the  tokens  of 
the  association  ? 

"  In  a  few  daj^s,"  says  Schiller,  "  the  town  of 
Brussels  swarmed  with  ash-gray  garments,  cut  in 
the  true  mendicant  fashion.  Every  leaguer  clothed 
his  family  and  put  his  retainers  in  this  dress.  Some 
carried  wooden  bowls  thinly  overlaid  with  plates  of 
silver,  cups  of  the  same  pattern,  and  wooden  knives; 
in  short,  the  whole  paraphernalia  of  the  beggar 
tribe,  which  they  either  fixed  about  their  hats  or 
wore  suspended  from  their  girdles.  Round  the  neck 
the  titled  'beggars'  hung  a  golden  or  silver  coin 
afterwards  called  the  '  Guesen  penny,'  on  one  side 
of  which  was  the  effigy  of  the  king,  with  the  inscrip- 
tion, '  True  to  the  king ;'  and  on  the  reverse  were 
seen  two  hands  folded,  holding  a  wallet,  with  the 
words,  '  Even  to  the  beggar's  scrip.'  "* 

It  was  a  jest  which  hid  a  growl. 

•  Schiller,  p.  496. 


352  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

FIELD -PEE  ACHING. 

While  the  leaguers  were  still  streaming  home 
from  the  Brussels  reudezvous,  Margaret,  seated  in 
her  cabinet,  was  sketching  a  pen-picture  of  all  that 
had  occurred  for  Philip's  eye.  With  pre-Eaphael- 
ite  precision,  she  omitted  nothing ;  the  most  trivial 
gossip  was  daubed  upon  the  canvas,  even  to  a  rep- 
resentation of  Brederode  eating  capons  at  Antwerp 
on  Good  Friday  ;  the  accuracy  of  which,  by-the-by, 
"  the  great  beggar,"  as  he  was  called,  stoutly  denied. 
"  They  who  say  so,"  said  he,  "  lie  miserably  and 
wickedly,  twenty-four  feet  down  in  their  throats."* 

When  this  budget  of  facts  and  scandal  was  safely 
off,  the  duchess  assembled  her  most  confidential 
councillors  to  consult  with  her  upon  a  plan  which 
she  had  hatched  for  the  mitigation  of  the  edicts,  in 
such  shape  as  to  keep  the  mean  between  the  royal 
wishes  and  the  popular  demands.!  Viglius — who 
had  recently  received  Philip's  permission  to  resign 
his  seat  at  the  council-board,  though  ordered  to 
discharge  the  duties  of  his  office  pending  the  arri- 
val of  his  successor,  Charles  de  Tisnacq,  then  in 

*  Groen  v.  Prinst,  Arcliivos,  etc.,  torn.  2,  pp.  98,  99. 
f  Bor.,  torn.  1.     .Strada.     Vita  Viglii. 


FIELD-PREACHING.  353 

Spain* — was  requested  by  tlie  governant  to  draw 
up  the  form.  The  pedantic  doctor  wilHuglj  com- 
pHed.  Fearful  lest  his  labor  should,  like  the  hom- 
ilies of  the  fictitious  bishop  of  Granada,  smack  of 
the  apoplexy  which  had  laid  him  senseless,  and 
anxious  that  this  last  service  should  be  his  chef- 
iVceiivrc,  he  painfully  elaborated  fifty-three  articles, 
which  were  run  into  a  legal  mould  by  Chancellor 
d'Assonleville,  and  named  "The  Moderation. "f 

In  reality,  this  misnamed  "  moderation  "  was  a 
mere  substitution  of  the  halter  for  the  stake.!  When 
a  rumor  of  its  preparation  and  purport  leaked  into 
the  ears  of  the  people,  as  it  did  while  it  was  still 
under  discussion  in  the  council-chamber,  they  killed 
it  ere  it  was  born,  by  a  witticism.  "  This  *  modera- 
tion' "  said  they,  with  a  play  upon  words,  the  same 
in  Dutch  as  in  English,  "  is  a  '  murderation.'  "§ 

Unaware  or  heedless  of  this  sarcasm,  the  duchess 
continued  to  occupy  herself  with  her  project.  "The 
question  is,"  said  Margaret,  "  whether  it  is  best  to 
promulgate  the  'moderation'  at  once,  or  first  to 
submit  it  to  the  king  for  his  approval."  The  coun- 
cillors held  that  it  would  be  presumptuous  to  publish 
it  without  the  royal  sanction,  but  they  advised  her 
highness  to  submit  it  to  the  states  for  their  approval, 
and  when  this  was  granted  to  send  it  to  Madrid.il 

Of  course,  the  proposed  "  moderation  "  should 

•"-  Vita  Viglii,  p.  45. 

t  Bor.,  torn.  1.     Meteren,  torn.  2.     Hoofd,  torn.  3. 

X  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  527. 

§  Meteren,  torn.  2,  p.  38.     Hoofd,  Brandt. 

II  Hoofd,  Schiller. 


354  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

have  been  submitted  to  the  states  -  general ;  but 
Philip  had  vetoed  the  convocation  of  the  national 
assembly,  therefore  the  governant  had  recourse  to 
a  stratagem.  She  laid  it  secretly  before  the  indi- 
vidual provinces,  commencing  with  those  which  were 
smallest,  and  whose  franchises  were  least  liberal — 
Artois,  Namur,  Luxemburg — and  when  these  assent- 
ed, Flanders  and  Brabant  were  cozened  into  sub- 
serviency.* As  for  the  northern  states,  Holland, 
Utrecht,  Zealand,  and  the  rest,  where  the  spirit  of 
independence  was  high  and  vigilant,  they  were  not 
consulted  ;t  it  was  forwarded  to  Philip  without 
their  assent. 

Margaret  had  promised  the  petitioners  to  ac- 
credit an  envoy  to  Madrid,  armed  with  authority  to 
demand  the  abolition  of  the  Inquisition  in  the  name 
of  the  nation.  She  selected  Berghen,  who,  on  ac- 
count of  the  delicacy  of  the  embassage,  begged  for 
a  coadjutor.  Montigny  was  chosen,  and  he  at  last 
gave  a  reluctant  assent  to  act. J  The  instructions 
of  these  ambassadors  were  made  out  in  accordance 
with  the  "  moderation  "  scheme,§  and  Montigny  set 
out  for  Spain  on  the  29th  of  May.  Berghen  was 
detained  for  some  weeks  b}'  a  bruised  thigh,  hurt  by 
a  tennis-ball;  but  he  too  eventually  quitted  Brussels 
for  the  Segovian  forest,  where  Philip  spent  his  sum- 
mers. 11 

This  mission,  undertaken  with  reluctance  and 

«  Hoofd,  SchiUer.  f  Ibid.,  Brandt,  Metereu. 

t  Hoofd,  torn.  3.     Strada,  p.  113.     Schiller.  §  Ibid, 

II  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  426. 


FIELD-PREACHING.  355 

half-staj'ed  by  accident,  was  destined  to  end  in  a 
double  tragedy ;  the  hapless  seigneurs  went  forward, 
one  to  be  mm'dered  the  other  to  die  on  a  foreign 
shore.  But  the  shadow  of  this  doom  did  not  imme- 
diately fall  upon  them.  Philip  knew  how  to  wait; 
and  he  received  the  envoys  graciousl}',*  though  at 
the  same  time  contriving  to  delay  them  in  Spain  until 
lie  was  ready  to  throw  off  the  mask — playing  with 
his  victims  as  a  spider  dallies  with  the  fly  he  has 
entangled  in  his  web,  and  ending  all  b}^  the  fatal 
pounce. 

While  the  victim  ambassadors  were  journej'ing 
to  their  graves,  the  march  of  events  in  the  country 
they  were  to  see  no  more  went  forward  with  a  steady 
step.  The  summer  of  1566  marked  a  new  epoch. 
Up  to  this  time  the  record  had  been  one  of  fanat- 
ical tyranny  on  the  part  of  the  court,  of  patient 
endurance  on  the  part  of  the  reformed,  of  constitu- 
tional opposition  on  the  part  of  the  middle  classes, 
of  petulant,  spasmodic  resistance  on  the  part  of  the 
lesser  nobles,  of  persistent  protest  on  the  part  of  the 
grandees.  Now  the  reformed  no  longer  demanded 
their  rights ;  they  took  them.  Hitherto  they  had 
met  stealthily  at  midnight,  rendezvoused  in  the 
depths  of  the  Netherland  forests,  skulked  into  upper 
chambers  to  worship  God.  At  last,  despairing  of 
governmental  recognition,  and  emboldened  by  the 
outspoken  sympathy  of  the  leaguers  and  by  the 
covert  protection  of  the  seigneurs,  they  threw  off 
disguise  and  began  to  meet  publicly.  "  If  we  are 
<'  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  426.     Hopper. 


356  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

to  be  murdered,"  said  they,  "  we  will  sliow  the  Inqui- 
sition how  many  it  will  have  to  burn  and  hang  and 
banish."" 

The  confidence  of  the  reformed  was  yet  more 
increased  by  a  declaration,  forged  by  a  party  of 
reckless  gueux,  which  guaranteed  that  no  one  should 
be  molested  on  account  of  religion,  pending  the  an- 
swer of  the  king  to  the  recent  demands  of  the  con- 
federates, and  which  purported  to  have  been  signed 
by  the  knights  of  the  Golden  Fleece.f  The  knights 
themselves  promptly  branded  this  paper  as  spuri- 
ous, and  the  duchess  made  every  effort  to  expose  the 
fraud.  It  was  useless ;  the  report  had  served  its 
purpose,  and,  to  borrow  Strada's  quaint  metaphor, 
"  Wool  that  had  been  dii:)ped  in  ink  was  incapable  of 
another  dye.":j: 

Forbidden  to  assemble  in  chapels  and  banned  in 
the  haunts  of  men,  the  Netherland  Protestants  were 
compelled,  when  they  decided  to  convene  openly,  to 
stream  forth  from  the  gates  of  their  cities  into  the 
adjacent  meadows  to  erect  their  altars.  "Space," 
said  Newton,  "  is  the  sensorium  of  the  Deity."  The 
Low  Country  reformers  recognized  this  truth  long 
before  the  great  Englishman  put  it  into  words,  and 
the  intuition  begat  field-preaching. 

These  out-of-door  conventicles  were  first  held  in 
Western  Flanders;  thence  the  custom  passed  into 
Brabant,  and  from  there  it  spread  into  all  the  other 
provinces  with  such  rapidity  that,  by  the  middle  of 

■"'  Davies,  vol.  1,  p.  526, 

t  Strada,  p.  112,  et  seq.  t  Ibid. 


FIELD-PEEACHING.  357 

July,  156G,  there  was  not  a  lowland  city  Avliicli  did 
not  have  its  camp-meetings  as  regularly  attended  as 
the  popish  masses ;  while  the  audiences,  small  at 
the  outset,  soon  swelled  to  tens  of  thousands.*  The 
devotion  of  the  faithful,  the  curiosity  of  the  care- 
less, the  novelty  of  the  spectacle,  every  motive  con- 
spired to  recruit  a  multitude  of  auditors  ;  and  while 
the  devout  were  strengthened  and  comforted,  many 
a  roysterer  who  had  slipped  into  the  throng  only  to 
laugh  or  to  scoff  at  a  comedy  richer  than  the  play- 
house could  present,  returned  with  conviction  hid- 
den in  his  heart :  for  the  human  mind  cannot  be 
isolated  on  a  glass  cricket ;  the  lightning  of  thought 
strikes  when  least  expected.  Here  in  these  open- 
air  cathedrals,  grander  than  St.  Peter's,  vaster  than 
a  score  of  Notre  Dames,  whose  vaulted  roof  was  the 
empyrean,  whose  blazing  tapers  were  the  unquench- 
ed  stars,  whose  cushioned  auditorium  was  God's  own 
grecn-sward — here  thousands  of  wear}^,  sinful  hearts 
found  rest  in  Jesus ;  here  hundreds  of  couples  were 
united  in  marriage  ;  here  multitudes  were  hallowed 
to  God's  service. 

The  field-preachers  were  men  eminently  deser- 
ving of  respect.  Though  outlawed  and  hunted 
down,  walking  always  in  "  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death,"  and  in  constant  danger  of  the  halter  and 
the  stake,  they  had  cast  fear  from  out  their  hearts, 
and  they  proclaimed  the  gospel  with  an  ardor  as 
fiery  as  that  of  Peter,  with  a  faith  as  rapt  as  that  of 
the  seer  of  the  apocalyptic  vision.     Some  among 

*  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  171.     Vita  Jnuii. 


358  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

them  there  were,  indeed,  Avhose  zeal  was  little  tem- 
pered with  discretion,  and  some  too  who  were  un- 
lettered and  of  lowly  station — dyers,  curriers,  hat- 
ters— disciples  who,  thinking  they  had  a  call  to 
preach,  carried  the  rude  and  boisterous  manners  of 
their  trades  into  the  pulpit,  and  incurred  the  dis- 
dainful contempt  of  the  learned  by  their  extrava- 
gance and  occasional  license.  But  to  men  who, 
girt  by  duty,  dare  and  suffer  greatly,  much  may  be 
pardoned. 

Besides,  these  humble  laborers  were  not  the 
only  workers  in  the  vineyard ;  nor,  indeed,  were 
they  the  majority.  In  the  ranks  of  the  reformed 
clergy  there  were  men  of  the  finest  aesthetic  culture, 
of  the  most  graceful  accomplishments,  and  of  the 
grandest  eloquence — converted  monks,  like  Luther, 
and  ripe  scholars,  graduated  at  Geneva.*  These, 
to  the  widow's  mite  of  the  homely  preachers,  add- 
ed the  splendid  dower  of  their  dedicated  genius. 
There  was  Peter  Dathenus,  who  preached  night  and 
day  with  prodigious  effect  at  various  places  in 
Western  Flanders  ;t  there  was  Hermann  Strycker, 
another  monk  who  had  renounced  his  vows  to  be- 
come a  successful  preacher  of  the  Reformation — a 
man  of  stormy  eloquence,  who  statedly  addressed 
eight  thousand  auditors  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Ghent  ;■]:  and  there  were  the  accomplished  Ambrose 
Wille,  and  Marnier,  Guy  de  Bray,  and  Francis 
Junius — whom  Scaliger  called  "  the  greatest  of  all 

*  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  170,  ei  seq.,  passim.     Vita  Junii.     Hoold. 
t  Ibid.     Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  533.  t  Ibid. 


FIELD-PREACHING.  359 

theologians  since  apostolic  claj'S ;""  and  Peregrine 
de  la  Grange,  scion  of  a  noble  Provengal  family, 
with  the  fiery  blood  of  southern  France  in  his 
veins,  brave  as  his  nation,  a  troubadour  and  a  Vau- 
dois  by  right  of  inheritance,  learned,  eloquent, 
enthusiastic  ;  who  galloped  to  his  field,  preaching 
on  horseback,  and  fired  a  pistol-shot  as  a  signal 
for  his  congregation  to  give  attention  :t  these  and 
many  more  there  were,  who  lent  lustre  and  dignity 
to  the  cause  they  had  espoused. 

The  assemblies  which  these  men  addressed  grew 
vaster  every  day.  On  Sundays  and  holidays  there 
was  always  preaching  in  the  environs  of  the  large 
towns.t.  The  authorities  gazed  on  these  gatherings 
with  open-mouthed  amazement.  The  boldness  of 
the  heretics  stupefied  them.  At  length,  however, 
they  essa^'ed  to  disperse  the  meetings.  On  one 
occasion,  a  magistrate  of  Ghent  undertook  to  dis- 
turb a  great  assembly  convened  almost  within  sound 
of  the  iron  tongue  of  Pvoland.  Mounting  a  horse 
and  seizing  a  naked  sword  and  a  pistol,  he  rode  in 
among  the  multitude  and  made  an  eftbrt  to  arrest 
the  preacher.  The  people  were  unarmed,  but  their 
zeal  soon  furnished  them  with  extemporized  weap- 
ons. A  storm  of  stones  fell  upon  the  interloper ; 
and  sorely  bruised,  he  put  spurs  to  his  courser  and 
sped  back  to  the  protection  of  tlie  city  wal]s.§ 

After  this  rencontre,  the  reformed  went  to  their 

<'■  Cited  in  Motley,  ubi  sup.  f  Motley,  ^^t  anteu. 

X  Hoofd,  Strada,  Vita  Junii,  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1. 
§  Brandt,  vol.  1,  pp.  171,  172. 


360  THE  DUTCH  KEFOKMATION. 

conventicles  armed.  Pikes,  staves,  liatcliets,  guns, 
the  most  motley  weapons  were  impressed ;  sentinels 
were  stationed  at  tlie  different  avenues  of  approach ; 
bands  of  horsemen  scoured  the  plains  between  the 
rendezvous  and  the  city ;  and  a  kind  of  camp  was 
formed  and  rudely  intrenched  behind  carts.  When 
these  precautions  were  taken,  a  rough  staging  was 
erected  in  the  centre  of  the  ground,  and  covered 
with  an  awning.  The  preacher  mounted  this  pul- 
pit;  and  the  hearers,  grouping  themselves  about 
it — the  women  and  children  in  froat,  the  men  be- 
hind, the  patrol  in  the  outer  circle — sermons  were 
listened  to,  x^ra-yers  were  offered,  and  psalms  were 
sung  by  ten  thousand  voices  in  the  mother-tongue, 
until  the  welkin  rang  with  the  rude  harmony." 
Either  the  sermons  were  better  in  those  days  than 
in  ours,  or  the  listeners  were  more  easily  satisfied ; 
for  it  was  common  for  an  audience  to  sit  four  unin- 
terrupted hours  in  rapt,  unflagging  attention  to  a 
favorite  minister.!  Nor  were  the  pastors  fierce 
inveighers  against  law  and  order;  often  they 
breathed  the  most  Christian  spirit,  and  even  while 
groaning  under  the  cross,  they  prayed  for  all  con- 
ditions of  men — for  themselves,  for  their  friends, 
for  the  government  which  hunted  and  bound  them, 
for  the  king  whose  face  was  turned  on  them  in 
fanatical  anger.:j: 

But  these  men  were  resolute  to  maintain  their 
rights.     Before  the  services  commenced,  hawkers 

«  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  172.     Hoofd. 

t  Ibid.,  d  seq.,  j^osshn.  t  Ibid. 


FIELD-PEEACHING.  361 

sold  tlie  prohibited  books ;  and  when  sometimes  a 
cry  Avas  raised  that  the  militia  were  approaching, 
the  stern  reply  was,  as  each  man  grasped  his  weap- 
on, "  Let  them  come ;  we  are  ready  to  receive 
them."*  When  the  exercises  were  concluded,  the 
camp  was  broken  up,  and  the  multitude  quietly 
dispersed  at  the  city  gates.t 

Such  was  field-preaching  in  the  Netherlands  in 
the  year  1566.  This  scene  was  everywhere  repro- 
duced— at  Valenciennes,  at  Ghent,  at  Amsterdam, 
at  Haarlem,  at  the  Hague ;  it  was  the  locality  alone 
that  shifted.:}: 

But  Antwerp  was  the  great  centre  of  these  de- 
monstrations.§  Here  there  were  three  dominant 
sects  :  the  Lutherans,  who  were  the  wealthiest ;  the 
Anabaptists,  who  were  the  most  quiet ;  the  Calvin- 
ists,  who  were  the  most  numerous  and  active.il 
Widely  at  variance  on  minor  points  of  faith,  they 
were  a  unit  against  persecution  ;  and  though  they 
sometimes  assailed  each  other  with  rancor,  an  allu- 
sion to  the  common  foe  melted  all  differences  into 
cordial  union. 

The  Calvinists  were  especially  identified  with 
the  field-preaching.  Ambrose  Wille  and  Peregrine 
de  la  Grange  often  assembled  twenty  thousand 
people  to  listen  to  them  at  the  bridge  of  Eronville, 
just  without  Antwerp  gates.!     After  the  sermon, 

«  Brandt,  vol.  p.  172.     Hoofd.  t  I^id. 

+  Cor.  de  Philippe  II. 

§  Bor.,  torn.  2.     Strada,  p.  117. 

II  Schiller,  p.  505.     Motley,  vol.  1,  pp.  537,  538. 

IT  Keuom  de  Francia,  MS.     Cited  in  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  31. 


362  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

the  reformers  openly  escorted  their  preachers  b&ck 
to  town,  and  gave  them  hospitable  entertainment, 
defying  interference.* 

The  gueux  witnessed  this  outburst  with  secret 
pleasure.  "  There  will  soon  be  a  hard  nut  to  crack," 
said  Louis  of  Nassau.  "  The  king  will  never  permit 
the  preaching  ;  the  people  will  never  give  it  up,  if 
it  costs  them  their  necks.  There  's  a  hard  pufi' 
coming  upon  the  country  before  long."t  The  court 
beheld  the  movement  with  mingled  awe  and  anger. 
Margaret  smeared  the  provinces  with  placards  re- 
citing the  freezing  penalties  which  awaited  heresy ; 
put  a  price  upon  the  heads  of  the  prominent  preach- 
ers ;  offered  a  reward  of  six  hundred  florins  to  who- 
ever should  bring  an  offender  to  punishment ;  and 
sent  message  after  message  to  the  municipalities, 
whom  she  ordered  to  disperse  the  mass-meetings 
by  calling  out  the.  citizen  train-bands.:]:  But  this 
war  of  proclamations  was  futile ;  men  who  had  not 
feared  to  brave  the  Inquisition,  were  not  to  be 
frightened  by  parchment ^'«/.s.  With  other  weapons 
the  duchess  could  not  fight.  Without  money  and 
without  troops,  she  could  only  rave — though  she 
did,  indeed,  attemjit  to  exorcise  the  spirit  which 
was  abroad  by  "  public  prayers,  processions,  fasts, 
sermons,  and  exhortations  ;"§  all,  however,  with- 
out effect,  as  she  afterwards  assured  the  king.H 

*  Ibid.     Strada,  uhi  sup. 

■j-  Groen  V.  Prinst.,  Archives,  etc.,  torn.  2,  p.  208. 

j  Strada,  p.  117.    Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  173. 

§  Cor.  de  Marguerite  d'Autriche,  p.  84. 

II  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  432. 


FIELD-PREACHING.  3G3 

As  for  the  magistrates,  tliey  received  these 
orders  with  manj  expressions  of  zeal;  but  they 
were  as  powerless  as  the  governant.  How  could 
the  guild  militia  of  the  cities,  the  crossbowmeu  of 
St.  Maurice,  the  archers  of  St.  Sebastian,  the  sword- 
players  of  St.  Christopher,  be  ordered  out  to  sup- 
press the  preaching,  when  they  had  themselves 
gone  to  the  preaching?  Often,  indeed,  these  very 
magistrates  were  the  pillars  of  the  templ6  they  were 
bidden  to  pull  down — might  be  seen  listening  ap- 
provingly to  the  preachers  they  had  received  orders 
to  arrest.* 

Meantime,  grown .  bolder  from  impunity,  the 
reformed  began  to  clamor  for  legal  recognition.  At 
Antwerp,  they  waited  upon  the  magistrates  and 
formally  demanded  the  appropriation  of  some 
chapel  to  their  worship  within  the  gates  of  the 
city.f  The  authorities  were  in  a  dilemma :  they 
dared  not  say  yes,  and  they  feared  to  say  no.  The 
town  was  feverishly  excited.  Trade,  proverbially 
timid,  was  at  a  stand-still.  Merchants,  fearful  of  a 
riot,  locked  and  double-barred  their  shops.  The 
streets  were  ominously  crowded.  Margaret  was 
informed  of  the  sinister  situation  of  the  commercial 
capital  of  Europe.  "  Hasten  to  our  relief,"  cried 
the  vested  interests  of  Antwerp.  "  I  fear  to  stir," 
was  the  laconic  response.  "  At  least  send  the 
prince  of  Orange,"  said  frightened  conservatism. 
The  prince  was  reluctant  to  go :  he  preferred  watch- 

*  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  535.     Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  27. 
f  Braudt,  ubi  suj). 


364         THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

fulness  to  action  at  this  crisis.  The  governant  dis- 
liked to  send  him ;  already  over-powerful,  she  feared 
that  he  might  win  new  laurels.  But  the  danger  was 
imminent;  the  burghers  were  clamorous;  Orange 
was  hereditary  burgrave  of  the  imj^erilled  city,  and 
he  seemed  the  only  person  able  to  subdue  sedition : 
so  the  reluctance  of  the  prince  and  the  jealousy  of 
the  duchess  were  alike  overborne,  and  William  set 
out  for  Antwerp.* 

On  entering  the  perturbed  town,  he  at  once  ad- 
dressed himself  to  business.  Consultations  were 
held  with  every  department  of  the  municipality;  no 
one  was  neglected,  no  one  was  wronged.  Orange 
worked  to  restore  quiet  with  restless  energy  and 
profound  tact.  His  task  was  no  easy  one ;  animos- 
ities were  kindled,  fears  were  rife,  rumors  of  the 
coming  of  a  mercenary  garrison  were  on  every  lip. 
But  eventually  he  prevailed ;  mutual  confidence  was 
restored,  and  the  reformed  consented  to  waive  their 
right  of  worship  within  the  corporation  limits,  out 
of  the  especial  respect  they  bore  the  prince,  on  con- 
dition that  they  were  protected  in  the  fields.t  It 
was  evident  that  there  was  to  be  no  outbreak  in 
Antwerp  while  Orange  remained. 

This  brilliant  success  won  the  cap-iu-hand  con- 
gratulations of  the  court.  "  This  seigneur  is  very 
skilful  in  the  management  of  great  affairs,"  said 
Assonleville.'l    Margaret  was  profusely  complimen- 

«  Hoofd,  torn.  2,  p.  87.     Strada,  p.  118.     Brandt. 

t  Meteren,  folio  42.     Brandt,  Yol.  1,  pp.  173-17C.     Straxla. 

t  Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  542. 


FIELD-PEEACHING.  365 

tary.*  Philip  himself  wrote  to  assure  "William  of 
his  grateful  satisfaction  and  of  his  undiminished 
confidence  ;t  a  message  which  the  shrewd  prince 
valued  at  its  exact  worth.  At  this  very  time  the 
duchess  was  avenging  herself  upon  the  saviour  of 
Antwerp,  by  assuring  the  king  that  Orange  was  a 
traitor  at  heart.  "  I  am  thoroughly  aware,"  wrote 
she,  "  that  this  '  good  friend '  aims  at  self-aggran- 
dizement through  these  tumults.":]: 

While  the  prince  was  thus  busied  at  Antwerp, 
the  governant  received  a  fresh  shock.  She  was  told 
that  the  gueux  had  published  a  call  for  a  convention 
at  the  town  of  St.  Trond,  in  the  bishoi^ric  of  Liege. 
In  the  middle  of  July,  the  leaguers,  to  the  number 
of  two  thousand,  assembled  in  stormy  conclave.§ 
Scenting  danger  in  the  reticence  of  Philip,  who  had 
as  yet  returned  no  reply  to  their  petition,  and  un- 
decided how  to  shape  their  future  course,  they  now 
met  for  mutual  counsel.!!  Two  questions  were  espe- 
cially debated :  whether  they  were  safe  in  case  tho 
king  should  resent  their  action,  and  whether  they 
ought  to  ask  for  ampler  liberty  than  was  demanded 
in  the  petition  against  the  Inquisition. IF  Touching 
the  first  point,  the  conventionalists  voted  to  require 
the  regent  to  insure  their  security.**  As  regards 
the  second  question,  opinions  differed,  and  no  defi- 

«-  Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  5i2. 

■f  CoiTesp.  de  Guillaume  le  Tacit. ,  torn.  2,  pp.  170,  171. 

X  \'ide  Strada,  p.  121. 

§  Ibid.    Ai'cLives  de  la  Maison  d'Orange-Nassau,  torn.  2,  p.  171. 

II  Ibid.     Schiller,  Prescott. 

H  Strada,  p.  119.     Vandervyuckt.  Ov  ibid. 


366  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

nite  decision  was  reached.*  Those  who  were  Ro- 
manists said:  ""We  can  go  no  farther;  the  Inqui- 
sition is  bad,  but  toleration  is  infinitely  worse." 
Those  who  were  Protestants  replied:  "You  mis- 
take the  halfway-house  for  the  end  of  the  journey." 
This  discussion  revealed  the  weakness  of  the  gueux, 
laid  bare  the  substratum  of  radical  disagreement; 
showed  each  party  the  purpose  of  the  other.  The 
stancher  papists,  led  by  Charles  Manfeld,  at  once 
renounced  the  league. t 

No  whit  discouraged  by  this  bolt,  the  confeder- 
ates continued  their  deliberations.  The  longer  they 
talked  and  the  oftener  they  shouted,  Vivent  les  gueux, 
the  more  radical  they  grew,  until  at  last  they  decided 
upon  two  things :  in  answer  to  memorials  presented 
to  them  by  the  reformed,  they  formally  granted  the 
protection  of  the  league  to  all  religionists  pending 
the  decision  of  the  states-general:]: — an  act  which 
openly  identified  the  gueux  with  the  sectaries;  and 
they  subsidized  a  force  of  German  men-at-arms,  con- 
sisting of  four  thousand  horse  and  forty  companies 
of  foot,  to  be  at  their  disposal  in  case  of  need.§ 

Apprized  by  her  spies  of  these  doings  at  St. 
Trond,  Margaret  summoned  Egmont  from  his  stadt- 
holderate  in  Flanders,  and  called  Orange  from  his 
post  at  Antwerp,  to  meet  and  remonstrate  with  the 
gueux  leaders. II    A  conference  was  held  at  the  village 

*  Strada,  p.  119.  Vandervynckt.  Groen  v.  Prinst. ,  Archives, 
etc.  t  Ibid. 

X  Groen,  Archives  de  la  Maison  d'Orange-Nassaii,  torn.  2,  p, 
159.  §  Ibid.,  p.  167. 

II  Strada,  p.  119,  d  seq.    Groen  v.  Prinst.,  Archives,  etc.,  torn.  2. 


FIELD-PREACHING.  367 

of  Duffel,  iu  the  vicinage  of  Antwerp.*  "Where- 
fore this  new  move?"  demanded  the  governant 
through  the  Hps  of  the  two  seigneurs — upon  whom, 
bj-the-b}-,  she  always  fell  back  at  critical  mo- 
ments. 

Brederode,  Culemburg,  and  the  rest  of  the  dep- 
utation replied  in  a  strain  of  rare  boldness :  "  Know 
then,  messieurs  envoys,  that  the  pledges  of  her 
highness  were  a  clever  farce;  that  she  has  played 
us  false ;  that  the  '  moderation '  was  a  mockery ; 
that  the  letters  to  the  Inquisition  were  waste-pa- 
per; that  a  price  has  been  set  upon  the  heads  of 
preachers,  as  if  they  w^ere  wild  beasts;  that  the 
ambassadors  are  still  unanswered ;  that  the  states- 
general  are  still  unconvened ;  and  that  the  govern- 
ment has  driven  the  people  to  despair,  not  the 
gueuxyj 

This  crimination  and  recrimination  could  have 
but  one  result ;  the  seigneurs  returned  to  Brussels 
to  report  their  failure.!.  ^^^  ^^^^  leaguers  did  not 
rest  here ;  a  paper  was  drawn  up  in  solemn  vindi- 
cation of  their  conduct ;  and  this,  Louis  of  Nassau, 
accompanied  by  a  dozen  friends  who  were  irrever- 
ently styled  "  Count  Louis'  twelve  disciples,"§  set 
out  to  deUver  to  the  governant.i  Nassau  laid  the 
document  before  her  highness  in  council.    In  it  the 

o  Strada,  p.  120. 

\  l\Iotley,  vol.  1,  p.  548.    Vandervynckt. 

X  Groen  v.  Priust,  Arch.,  etc.     Meteren. 

§  Strada,  p.  120. 

II  Ibid      Vandervynckt,  Bentivoglio. 


368  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

gueux  disclaimed  all  desire  for  pardon ;  what  they 
had  done  deserved  only  honor ;  they  demanded 
security,  because  that  was  a  guaranty  of  their  right 
of  petition.  As  for  the  rest,  two  things  would  sat- 
isfy them— the  convocation  of  the  states-general, 
and  an  agreement  on  the  part  of  her  highness  to 
take  no  important  step  Avithout  the  guidance  of 
Orange,  Egmont,  and  Horn.* 

The  tone  of  this  memorial  is  much  more  haughty 
than  that  of  the  petition.  It  marks  the  progress  of 
opinion  in  the  Netherlands,  and  shows  that  in  rev- 
olutions, concessions  which  would  be  deemed  amply 
satisfactory  at  the  outset,  if  too  long  withheld,  but 
serve  to  whet  the  appetite  of  demand. 

To  this  audacious  paper  Margaret  returned  an 
evasive  reply.  "  Madame,"  said  the  leaguers,  "  do 
not  drive  us  to  violence ;  if  you  do,  you  will  find 
that  we  are  not  without  assured  friends,  both  here 
and  abroad."t  With  this  sinister  threat  on  their 
lips,  the  gueux  deputies  quitted  Brussels.  The  gov- 
ernant  at  once  wrote  Philip  to  Implore  him  to  come 
to  some  sjDeedy  decision.  "  The  sectaries  go  armed, 
and  the  league  is  with  them,"  so  ran  her  letter ; 
"  nothing  remains  but  for  the  two  to  band  together 
and  sack  towns  and  churches.":]: 

Cornered  by  obstinate  necessity,  Philip  was 
again  compelled  to  act.  Summoning  his  council- 
lors to  consult  with  him  at  the  grove  of  Segovia,  he 

^'  Hoofcl,  torn.  2,  p.  98.     Hopper,  p.  94,  et  seq. 
f  Groen  v.  Prinst.,  Archives,  etc.,  torn.  2,  p.  167. 
i  Corresp.  de  Marguerite  d'Aiitriche,  ]).  121. 


FIELD-PEEACHING.  369 

laid  the  situation  of  the  Netherlands  before  them, 
and  solicited  their  opinion  of  the  fittest  means  to 
stifle  the  smoking  embers  of  mutiny.  Many  and 
protracted  were  the  sittings  of  the  council,  incredi- 
ble was  the  number  of  the  notes  which  the  royal 
clerk  made,  fatally  slow  was  the  haste  of  all.* 

The  councillors  agreed  in  thinking  that  the  Low 
Country  grandees  were  plotting  to  secure  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  provinces.  They  read  this  fact  in 
the  legible  writing  of  four  events :  the  pressure  for 
Granvelle's  recall ;  the  mission  of  Egmont  to  Madrid 
to  urge  the  mitigation  of  the  penal  statutes ;  the 
league  of  the  gueux ;  and  the  present  embassy  of 
Burghen  and  Montiguy  to  demand  the  abolition  of 
the  Inquisition,  the  adoption  of  the  "  Moderation," 
and  the  proclamation  of  an  amnesty  for  the  past. 
Nevertheless  the  royal  advisers  counselled  Philip 
to  bend  to  the  storm  until  he  was  ready  to  breast 
it,  and,  meantime,  to  depart  at  once  for  Brus- 
sels.! 

The  king  pleaded  that  the  stormy  season  of  the 
year  Avas  approaching,  and  suggested  that  the  gueux 
might  oppose  his  landing  in  the  Netherlands,  unless 
he  should  be  accompanied  by  an  armed  force ;  and 
for  these  reasons  he  esteemed  it  best  to  postpone 
his  visit  to  Brussels  until  the  spring  of  1567. J  As 
for  the  rest,  he  accepted  the  advice  of  his  council- 

"  Hopper,  then  in  Spain,  was  a  member  of  this  council,  and  he 
has  reported  its  doings  in  his  Eecueil  et  Memorial,  pp.  81 ,  87. 
t  Hopper,  Eec.  et  Mem.,  uhi  sup. 
%  Corresp.  de  Marg.  d'Antrichc,  p.  100,  et  seq. 


370  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

lors  in  the  most  literal  sense.  Retiring  to  liis  cab- 
inet, lie  addressed  a  letter  to  Margaret,  under  date 
of  July  31,  1566,  to  tliis  effect :  "  I  consent  to  the 
abolition  of  the  papal  Inquisition  in  the  Nether- 
lands ;  substitute  for  it  the  episcopal  form.  The 
plan  of  '  moderation '  is  far  too  mild.  'T  is  equiva- 
lent to  a  concession  of  toleration  within  the  domi- 
ciles of  individuals.  Veto !  Draw  up  some  new 
form  more  careful  of  the  faith,  and  send  it  here  to 
be  weighed  and  considered  ere  it  becomes  a  law. 
In  respect  to  a  general  pardon,  as  I  abhor  rigor,  I 
am  content  that  it  should  be  extended  to  whom- 
soever you  choose,  always  excepting  those  already 
condemned;  and  under  a  solemn  pledge,  moreover, 
that  the  nobles  at  once  abandon  their  league,  and 
henceforth  heartily  support  the  government."^ 

This  was  the  mouse  which  the  long-laboring 
mountain  had  brought  forth — this  was  the  panacea 
esteemed  fit  and  able  to  cure  the  national  com- 
plaint. 

But  even  these  meagre  and  absurd  "  conces- 
sions "  were  not  sincerely  granted ;  they  were  a 
mere  jumble  of  unmeaning  words,  meant  to  cheat 
the  public  mind.  Four  daj^s  afterwards,  Philip 
wrote  privately  to  the  duchess,  peremptorily  and 
absolutely  forbidding  her  to  consent  to  a  meeting 
of  the  states-general ;  jet  he  commanded  her  on  no 
account  to  make  this  mandate  known,  but  to  lead 
all  to  imagine  that  the  national  assembly  would 
soon  be  convened.t     At  the  same  time  he  bade 

<*  CoiTesp.  cle  Marg.  d'Aiitriclie,  p.  100,  ct  seq.  f  Ibid. 


FIELD-PREACHING.  371 

Margaret  prepare  secretly  for  war;  and  he  trans- 
mitted to  her  three  hundred  thousand  gold  florins 
with  which  to  recruit  an  army  of  ten  thousand  foot 
and  three  thousand  liorsc^  By  the  same  carrier, 
the  most  gracious  and  seductive  letters  were  sent 
to  the  ultramontane  nobles  of  the  provinces. t 

But  the  masterpiece  of  kingcraft  remained  be- 
hind. While  the  ink  was  hardly  dry  on  the  parch- 
ment which  recited  the  vojal  concessions,  Philip 
enacted  a  characteristic  comed}'.  "Call  a  notary," 
said  he ;  and  one  soon  appeared.  "  Now  summon 
Alva  and  two  legists;"  they  entered  the  apartment. 
"  Gentlemen,"  said  the  king,  "  I  hereby  solemnly 
protest  that  the  amnesty  which  I  have  proclaimed 
in  the  Low  Countries  was  not  made  of  my  own  free 
will ;  therefore  I  do  not  feel  bound  by  it,  but  reserve 
to  myself  the  right  to  punish  the  authors  and  abet- 
tors of  sedition  in  the  provinces."  A  document  to 
this  effect  was  drawn  up  and  signed  by  the  king 
and  by  the  three  witnesses  whom  he  had  sum- 
moned. | 

Nor  was  this  all.  Making  a  confessor  of  the 
pope,  he  explained  to  his  holiness,  through  the 
mouth  of  E-equesens,  the  Spanish  ambassador  at 
Eome,  that  the  recent  roj-al  decisions  would  not 
liave  been  made  without  consultation  with  the  Vat- 
ican, had  not  time  pressed.  "  Assure  his  holiness," 
wrote  Philip  to  the  envoy,  "that  as  for  the  aboli- 

*  Corresp.  de  Marg.  d'Autriclie,  p.  100,  et  seq. 

t    Ibid.,  pp.  lOG-lld. 

X  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  413,- 


372  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

tion  of  the  Inquisition,  it  cannot  be  abolished  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  pope,  by  whose  authority  it 
was  estabhshed.  This,  however,  must  be  said  in 
confidence.  As  to  the  edicts,  bid  the  pontiff  to 
beheve  that  I  never  will  approve  any  scheme  which 
shall  favor  the  guilty  by  diminishing  in  the  slight- 
est degree  the  penalties  of  their  crimes.  Let  this 
also  be  considered  as  secret.  Concerning  the 
grant  of  pardon,  assure  the  holy  father  that  it  will 
never  be  extended  to  offenders  against  religion. 
Briefly,  say  that  the  pope  may  be  sure  that  I  will 
consent  to  nothing  that  can  prejudice  religion  ;  that 
I  deprecate  force,  as  it  would  involve  the  ruin  of 
the  Netherlands;  spite  of  which,  however,  I  will 
march  in  person,  without  regard  to  my  own  peril 
and  though  it  should  cost  me  the  provinces,  but  I 
will  bring  my  vassals  to  submission;  for  I  would 
rather  lose  a  hundred  lives  than  reign  a  lord  over 
heretics."" 

Doubtless  Pius  V.  listened  and  approved  as 
Philip  thus  unburdened  his  bosom  in  the  confes- 
sional of  the  Vatican;  nor  was  the  shrift  likely  to 
bring  down  a  heavy  penance  |fom  one  who  held 
sternly  to  the  orthodox  maxim  of  "  No  faith  is  to 
be  kept  with  heretics."'!" 

Philip  II.,  dissembling  and  treacherous  every- 
where else,  was  plain  and  sincere  at  Eome.  Yet 
even  on  this  occasion  he  told  a  lie — which  deceived 
nobody.     He  had  said,  "  I  will  march  in  person  to 

*  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  445,  ei  seq. 
t  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  49. 


FIELD-PIIEACHING.  373 

subdue  revolt;"  but  it  was  an  open  secret  that  lib 
had  no  intention  of  going  to  the  Netherlands.  "  I 
feel  it  in  my  bones,"  said  Granvelle,  divining  public 
opinion  as  rheumatics  foretell  a  change  of  weather, 
"that  nobody  in  Eome  believes  in  his  majesty's 
journey  to  the  provinces."*  This  much-talked-of 
visit  was  the  standing  joke  of  the  Madrid  wits. 
Philip's  graceless  son,  Don  Carlos,  scribbled  one 
day  this  title  on  the  cover  of  a  blank  book :  "  The 
Great  and  Admirable  Voyages  of  King  Philip  II. ;" 
and  within,  for  the  contents,  he  wrote :  "  From  Ma- 
drid to  the  Pardo,  from  the  Pardo  to  the  Escurial, 
from  the  Escurial  to  Aranjuez."t 

Of  course,  this  trickery  of  the  king  was  hidden 
from  its  destined  victims.  The  royal  concessions 
professed  to  be  hona  fide.  But  they  reached  Brus- 
sels too  late.  While  Philip  had  been  walking  in 
leaden  shoes,  the  reform  had  assumed  a  new  phase, 
and  one  which  necessitated  war.  Men  may  be  over- 
reached, but  it  is  impossible  to  outwit  ideas.  This 
was  not  a  case  at  law;  it  was  revolution. 

*  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  xihi  sup.         f  Prescott,  uhi  sup. 


374  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE   IMAGE-BREAKERS. 

The  field  conventicles  of  156G  were  to  the  Neth- 
erlands, in  fact,  though  not  in  motive,  what  the 
Whig  clubs  were  to  our  fathers  in  '76,  what  the 
Jacobin  clubs  were  to  the  French  revolutionists, 
what  the  secret  societies  are  to  the  Republicans  of 
modern  Europe  —  the  forums  of  the  disaffected. 
Under  the  bitterest  of  legal  bans,  ostracized  in  the 
towns,  anathematized  in  the  churches  of  the  domi- 
nant faith,  the  reformers  were  forced  to  listen  to 
the  gospel  message  in  the  open  air ;  and  they  occu- 
pied the  intervals  before,  between,  and  after  the 
sermons  in  conversation  upon  the  injustice  of  a  rule 
which  sentenced  them  to  herd  for  worship  in  moor- 
land or  forest,  like  bands  of  outlaws,  and  condemned 
them  to  live  as  exiles  under  the  shadow  of  their 
homes.  Often  the  preachers  themselves  contrasted 
these  stealthy  gatherings  of  the  disciples  with  the 
pompous  and  law-protected  ceremonials  of  the  big- 
ots who  adhered  to  Rome ;  and,  wandering  off  from 
spiritual  themes,  they  commented  on  the  towering- 
cathedrals  where  the  papists  swung  their  censers 
and  told  their  beads  in  the  haughty  ease  of  a  mag- 
nificent but  intolerant  devotion,  and  inveighed 
against  the  legalized  impiety  whicli  knelt  to  adore 
marble  effigies  and  pictured  saints.     As  they  lis- 


THE  IMAGE-BEEAKEKS.  375 

teued  to  descvij^tions  of  such  blasphera}^  fiery  and 
ill-regulated  spirits  cliafed  and  shivered  with  impa- 
tient horror.  When  they  returned  from  the  field 
meetings,  and  saw  the  gay  processions  and  the  au- 
thorized temples  of  their  persecutors,  these  seemed 
to  cast  contempt  on  their  proscribed  belief.  Every 
image  which  they  met,  every  cross  set  up  upon  the 
highway,  appeared  to  be  a  trophy  erected  over  the 
humiliation  of  their  faith,  and  put  on  the  aspect  of 
an  abiding  insult  to  God,  who  had  proclaimed  from 
the  awful  summit  of  Mount  Sinai :  "  Thou  shalt  not 
make  unto  thee  any  graven  image,  or  any  likeness 
of  any  thing  that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  that  is  in 
the  earth  beneath,  or  that  is  in  the  water  under  the 
earth :  thou  shalt  not  bow  down  thyself  to  them, 
nor  serve  them :  for  I  the  Lord  thy  God  am  a  jeal- 
ous God."*  To  the  untutored  minds  of  some,  the 
papal  image-worship  seemed  a  constant  and  flagi- 
tious transgression  of  this  commandment,  and  for- 
getful of  that  other  mandate  of  the  Most  High  : 
"  Vengeance  is  mine,  I  will  repa}^,"!  zealots  cried, 
"  Come,  then,  let  us  break  these  idols." 

The  Low  Cpuntries  were  crowded  with  churches 
and  chapels  and  monasteries  and  convents.  Some 
of  these  v/ere  the  creations  of  days  which  ante- 
dated Charlemagne— huge  Gothic  piles  where  da}-- 
liglit  melted  into  poetic  gloom,  fitted  with  storied 
windows  glowing  in  brilliant  and  forgotten  colors, 
over  which  bereaved  art  still  weeps,  and  where  the 
effulgent  robes  of  priests  chanting  the  mass  in  a 
o  Exod.  20  :  d.  5.  f  Rom.  12  :  19. 


376  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

language  as  dead  as  .their  piety,  the  breathing  of 
choral  music  unearthly  sweet,  and  the  suffocating 
odors  of  myrrh  and  spikenard  suggestive  of  the 
oriental  scenery  and  imagery  of  Holy  Writ,  com- 
bined to  bewilder  and  bewitch  the  senses;  others 
were  born  of  the  Benaissance :  all  were  profusely 
adorned  by  the  gifts  of  wealthy  penitence,  which 
had  thus  purchased  absolution  for  crime ;  all  were 
flushed  with  paintings  from  a  school  which  in  time 
and  merit  had  precedence  of  its  sister  mu-series  of 
art  in  Germany ;  and  all  were  peopled  with 
statues.* 

When  the  image-breakers  looked  about  them, 
they  said,  "Lo,  here  is  no  lack  of  religious  houses 
to  despoil,  of  paintings  to  rend,  of  idols  to  behead." 

Upon  Assumption  eve,  on  the  14th  of  August, 
1566,  while  the  papists  were  busied  in  completing 
the  arrangements  for  the  processions  and  the  grand 
salaams  with  which  they  celebrated  the  ascension  of 
the  madonna,  rites  peculiarly  offensive  to  the  Prot- 
estants, the  wild  work  began.  Suddenly,  without 
concert,  without  warning,  a  frantic  band  of  three 
hundred  iconoclasts,  rudely  armecj  with  staves, 
hatchets,  hammers,  and  ropes — weapons  fitter  for 
spoliation  than  for  fight— threw  themselves  upon 
the  blasphemous  relics  and  marbles  and  paintings 
in  the  districts  of  lower  Flanders  between  the  river 
Lys  and  the  West  sea.f     Their  purpose  was  not 

s:-  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  552. 

t  Strada,  p.  121.  Hoofd,  torn.  3.  Bor,  torn.  2.  Hopper,  Eec. 
et  Mem. 


THE  IMAGE-BEEAKEES.  377 

plimder,  but  demolition ;  tliougli,  as  in  all  similar 
outbreaks,  the  zealots  were  reinforced  by  an  aban- 
donee! mob  of  thieves  and  prostitutes  and  impish 
boys  without  principle  in  the  onset,  eager  only  for 
what  they  could  pick  up. 

First,  the  highway  crosses  and  the  roadside  im- 
ages were  assailed  ;*  then,  gaining  courage  as  they 
increased  in  number,  the  destroj^ers  broke  into  the 
hamlets  and  towns  about  St.  Omer,  ransacking 
churches,  rifling  chapels,  sacking  convents,  defacing 
pictures,  overturning  images,  demolishing  shrines, 
burning  monastic  libraries,  trampling  with  unsan- 
dalled  feet  upon  the  sacred  treasures  of  the  Roman 
crypts.  On,  on,  on  they  rushed,  swift  as  the  wind, 
destructive  as  the  tempest,  meeting  with  no  resist- 
ance, for  the  law  was  surprised  and  dazed ;  mo- 
lesting no  human  being,  for  they  warred  alone 
upon  artistic  sacrilege — upon  pictures,  and  im- 
ages, and  buildings  associated  in  their  minds  with 
the  remorseless  persecution  of  half  a  century,  and 
which  had  thus  grown  human  and  hateful.f 

Through  the  frightened  gates  of  St,  Omer  they 
sped  to  Ypres.  There  again  they  spoiled  the  reli- 
gious houses;  and  entering  the  cathedral,  they 
mounted  on  ladders  to  the  pictured  walls,  and  ham- 
mered them  to  pieces,  hewed  the  altars  and  pews 
to  bits  with  axes,  stripped  the  pulpits  of  their  orna- 
ments, and  carried  off  the  holy  vessels  of  silver  and 

*  Brandt,  vol.  1.  p.  191.     Meteren,  bom.  2. 
f  Schiller,  Revolt  of  the  Neth.,  vol.  2,  p.  3.,  Bohn's  edition- 
Motley,  vol.  1. 


378  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

gold  and  precious  stones.*  From  Ypres,  the  mad- 
ness quickly  spread  to  Menin,  to  Comines,  to  Lille, 
to  Oudcnarde;  in  the  space  of  seventy  summer  hours 
four  hundred  churches  were  gutted  in  the  single 
province  of  Flanders.t  Drunk  with  success,  crazy 
with  license,  the  iconoclasts  now  passed  the  Lys, 
and  dividing  into  two  bands,  some  hastened  on  to 
Douay,  others  sped  towards  Secklyn.  Before  the 
gates  of  Secklyn  their  march  was  for  the  first  time 
contested.  A  few  resolute  knights  charged  the 
motley  and  undisciplined  invaders  and  routed  the 
whole  force,  driving  many  into  the  neighboring 
bogs,  drowning  some  in  the  river,  and  carrying 
others  into  the  tow'n  in  triumph. |  'Tis  a  signal 
illustration  of  what  composed  determination  can 
achieve. 

Reports  of  this  unique  insurrection  against  mar- 
ble saints  and  painted  effigies  soon  travelled  to 
Antw'erp.  "  It  is  frightful  sacrilege,"  said  the 
papist  burghers,  crossing  themselves.  "Idols  ought 
to  be  removed  from  our  sight  as  well  as  from  our 
hearts ;  but  this  should  be  a  voluntary  act,  not  the 
work  of  mobs,"  commented  the  vast  majority  of  the 
reformers.  "  Riot  will  soon  sw^eep  through  our 
streets,  torch  in  hand :  't  is  time  to  bar  our  shop- 
doors,"  stammered  startled  traders,  trembling  for 
their  coffers.     "Ah,  if  it  only   would,  it  would  be 

*  Schiller,   Eevolt  of  the  Neth.,  vol.  2,  p.  3.,  Bohn's  editiou. 
Motley,  vol.  1.     Strada,  p.  122. 

f  Strada,  p.  127.     Cor.  de  Marguerite  d'Autriche,  p.  183. 
J  Strada,  p.  122.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  192. 


THE  IMAGE-BEEAKEES.  379 

a  capital  diversion,"  drawled  careless  idlers,  wearj 
of  all  common  forms  of  amusements.  Tliere  were 
some  hot-heads  who  panted  to  imitate  the  image- 
breakers  of  the  provinces.  "  These  idol-smiters," 
said  they,  "  ought  to  have  twins  in  Antwerp.  The 
town  cannot  sweep  the  dirt  out  of  itself :  let  us 
wash  its  face." 

The  orderly  classes  of  all  sects  feared  a  tumult, 
but  no  measures  were  taken  to  prevent  one.*  Hap- 
pily, the  prince  of  Orange  was  in  the  city — a  fact 
which  4veut'  far  to  preserve  the  peace.f  As  was 
usual  in  the  gala  days  of  Assumption  week,  Ant- 
werp Avas  thronged  with  strangers:}: — merchants 
with  an  eye  to  business,  roysterers  intent  on  pleas- 
ure, rustics  with  bewildered  mien,  all  of  whom  had 
come  up  ostensibly  to  witness  the  fetes ;  but  it  was 
suspected  that  unquiet  spirits  with  another  purpose 
lurked  under  the  tunics  of  the  traders,  under  the 
slashed  doublets  of  the  rakes,  under  the  modest 
russet  of  the  peasants. 

The  grand  procession  which  was  annually  form- 
ed to  conduct  a  colossal  image  of  the  Virgin  Mary 
around  the  city,  paraded  now  as  aforetime,  spite  of 
the  fact  that,  at  such  a  moment,  the  pageant  was 
exactly  fitted  to  increase  the  irritation  of  the  peo- 
ple.§  However  no  riot  occurred,  though  the  popu- 
lace, grown  weary  of  antiquated  mummery,  hissed, 
and  hooted,  and  jeered  as  Our  Lady  passed.    "Lit- 

*  Brandt,  uhi  sup.     Hoofd,  torn.  3.        f  Bor.,  torn.  2,  p.  81. 
J  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  192.    Hopper,  Eec.  et  Mem.,  p.  OG. 
§  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  357. 


380  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

tie  Maiy,  little  Mary,  your  hour  has  come.  'Tis 
your  last  promenade :  the  city  is  tired  of  you'*'^ — 
such  was  the  ribald  salute  which  greeted  the  bediz- 
zened  and  eflfulgent  madonna.  It  was  evident  that 
insurrection  was  at  hand ;  its  avant-courier  had 
already  arrived,  for  the  masses  had  begun  to  jest. 
The  spectacle  ended  somewhat  abruptly ;  and  when 
Antwerp  went  to  bed  that  night,  it  congratulated 
itself  that  the  day  had  ended  without  a  riot.t 

In  the  morning,  Orange  left  the  city  for  Brus- 
sels, whither  he  had  been  summoned  to  attend  an 
extraordinary  session  of  the  council  of  state.:]:  He 
departed  much  against  his  will.  "  Madame,"  v/rote 
he  to  Margaret,  "  it  will  be  dangerous  for  me  to 
quit  my  post  at  this  juncture."§  "It  is  necessary," 
was  the  reply.ll  William  had  not  been  gone  many 
hours  when  a  noisy  assemblage  gathered  in  front  o£ 
the  far-famed  cathedral — next  to  St.  Peter's  at 
Eome  the  most  magnificent  church  in  Christen- 
dom. It  was  customary  to  deposit  the  effigy  of  the 
Virgin  in  the  centre  of  this  edifice  after  the  pro- 
cession of  the  Assumption,  that  it  might,  in  that 
conspicuous  station,  receive  the  adoration  of  the 
faithful.  Now,  as  a  measure  of  precaution.  Our 
Lady  was  huddled  into  the  choir,  half  out  of  sight ; 
so  that  when  the  throng  entered  the  cathedral  they 

*  Bor.,  torn.  2,  p.  81.     Strada,  p.  123.     Metereii,  torn.  2. 
f  Motley,  vbi  sup. 

X  Hoofd,  torn.  3,  p.  99.     Bor.,  uhi  sup. 
§  Cor.  de  Giiillaume  le  Tacitarne,  torn.  2,  p.  188. 
II  Cor.  de  Marguerite  d'Autriche.     Groeu  v.  Prinst.,  Ai'chives, 
etc.,  torn.  2,  p.  236. 


THE  IMAGE-BREAKEES.  381 

at  once  missed  the  image,  until,  peering  about,  they 
discovered  it  in  its  new  station."  Derisive  laugh- 
ter greeted  this  bo-peep  concealment.  "  Little 
Mary,  little  Mary,"  shouted  the  jokers,  "  art  thou 
terrified  so  early  ?  Hast  thou  flown  to  thy  nest  so 
soon?  Dost  think  thyself  beyond  the  reach  of 
harm  ?  Beware,  little  Mary ;  thine  hour  is  fast 
approaching."  The  sub-base  of  this  chorus  of 
light  raillery  was  the  incessant  shout  of  "  Vivent  les 
gueiix,'"  while  innumerable  voices  hoarsely  com- 
manded the  image  to  join  in  the  beggars'  cry.t 

Presently  there  was  a  scuffle.  An  elfish  lad, 
having  ascended  the  pulpit,  commenced  to  mimic 
the  tones  and  gestures  of  the  monkish  preachers,  a 
proceeding  in  exact  harmony  with  the  feelings  of 
the  riotous  audience ;  but  which  so  exasperated  a 
papist  waterman,  who  was  present  as  an  indignant 
spectator,  that  he  rushed  up  to  the  altar,  and  col- 
laring the  interloper,  flung  him  headlong  to  the  mar- 
ble floor  of  the  cathedral.  "  Vivent  Ics  gueux,''  shout- 
ed the  crowd ;  and  angered  by  this  rude  interrup- 
tion of  their  amusement,  they  surged  forward,  and 
began  lustily  to  belabor  the  courageous  mariner. 
The  waterman  did  not  lack  adherents,  and  blows 
were  interchanged  with  a  vim  and  science  worthy 
of  the  gladiators  of  the  pagan  coliseum.  In  the 
midst  of  this  heady  brawl  the  rabble  rout  Avere 
driven  from  the  church  by  the  cry  of  "  The  officers 
are    coming,   the  officers  are  coming."     Ere  long 

■-■  Hoofd,  torn.  3,  p.  99.    Strada,  p.  124.    Hopper,  Kec.  etMem. 
t  Ibid.    Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  557,  et  seq. 


382  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

silence  reigned  in  the  profaned  cathedral,  and  the 
sacristans  closed  the  gates  for  the  night.* 

In  the  midst  of  this  tumult,  the  cit}^  magistrates 
were  seated  in  solemn  conclave  in  the  great  hall 
of  the  Hotel  de  Ville.t  Left  without  a  helms- 
man by  the  departure  of  the  prince,  they  were 
rocked  rudderless  in  the  wind  of  doubt.  Without 
practical  authority,  accustomed  to  lean  in  stormy 
crises  ujDon  sturdier  arms,  and  fearful  of  making 
bad  worse  by  premature  action,  they  knew  not 
what  to  do.  They  were  aware  that  a  proclamation 
would  be  waste  paper  without  men-at-arms  to  en- 
force it ;  but  they  feared  to  appeal  to  the  guild 
militia,  lest  these  should  fraternize  with  the  mob ; 
while  to  call  in  the  aid  of  mercenaries,  even  had 
this  been  possible,  they  esteemed  sure  to  add  fresh 
fuel  to  the  fire.  Thus  circumstanced,  the  city 
fathers  contented  themselves  with  sending  a  cou- 
rier to  apprize  Orange  that  the  danger  he  had  fore- 
seen had  come.  This  done,  they  retired  to  their 
homes  and  put  on  their  night-caps,  in  the  futile 
hope  that  the  storm  they  knew  not  how  to  lay 
would  blow  over  by  the  morrow.:]: 

But  it  did  not ;  for  on  the  afternoon  of  the  fol- 
lowing day§  the  crowd  gathered  again  about  the 
doors  of  the  cathedral,  and  became  more  clamorous 
than  ever.     The  church  itself  was  filled  with  a  bois- 

*  Hoofd,  uU  sup.    Meteren,  fol.  xc.    Bor.,  torn.  2,  p.  83.  Strada, 
uhi  sup. 

t  Hoofd,  torn.  3,  p.  99.     Bor.,  torn.  2,  p.  83,  d  seq. 

t  Ibid.  §  August  21st.     Strada,  p.  124. 


THE  IMAGE-BEEAKEES.  383 

terous  multitude.  The  air  was  heavy  with  laughter, 
and  jests,  and  shouts  of  "  Vivent  les  (juenx.'"  About 
one  old  woman,  especially,  who  was  seated  as  usual 
beneath  the  choir  to  sell  wax  tapers  and  to  receive 
oblations,  a  flock  of  boys  were  grouped,  teasing  and 
baiting  her  to  the  top  of  their  bent.  "  Madame," 
said  they,  "  your  consecrated  wares  are  out  of  date ; 
your  idolatrous  traffic  must  end  in  your  starvation." 
Provoked  by  this  reckless  chaffer,  the  hucksteress 
began  to  pelt  her  tormentors  with  whatever  missiles 
she  could  lay  hands  on,  and  the  hubbub  increased 
apace.*  The  sacristans,  scenting  mischief,  essayed 
to  clear  the  church ;  but  their  efforts  were  vain.f 
They  called  in  the  magistrates,  who  endeavored  in 
their  turn  to  evoke  order  out  of  chaos.  "  Retire, 
retire,"  shouted  i\iej,  flourishing  their  staves  of 
office.  "  Nay,"  was  the  reply ;  "  we  have  a  mind  to 
stay  and  hear  the  hymn  of  Salve  Begina."  "There 
will  be  no  vespers  to-day,"  said  the  officials.  "  In- 
deed," was  the  retort ;  "  then  we  will  stay  and  sing 
Our  Lady's  lullaby  ourselVes :"  and  one  of  Marot's 
psalms  was  struck  up.| 

Foiled  here,  the  magistrates  had  recourse  to 
stratagem.  Pretending  to  retire,  they  shut  all  the 
doors  of  the  cathedral  save  one,  through  wliich  they 
hoped  that  the  rioters  would  follow  them  into  the 
street. §  A  few  did  so,  but  the  mass  remained. 
Beaten  again,  they  once  more  entered  the  edifice, 

«  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  192. 

t  Metereu,  folio  2,  p.  40.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  192,  et  seq. 

t  rbiil-  §  Brandt,  nhi  sup. 


384  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

and  fell  to  expostulation.*  But  the  multitude  were 
crazed  with  license,  and  they  hustled  the  alarmed 
dignitaries  through  the  single  open  door,  while  a 
new  crowd  burst  through  the  closed  portals  into  the 
cathedral. t  Once  more  the  officials  aiDproached  the 
church;  but  terrified  by  the  wild,  insurrectionary 
choruses  which  echoed  from  within,  and  convinced 
of  the  folly  of  unai-med  intervention,  they  conclu- 
ded to  leave  the  fated  cathedral;  and  retiring 
to  the  stadthouse,  they  barricaded  that  against 
assault.! 

These  few  trifles,  drifting  before  the  event,  were  • 
the  heralds  of  the  outbreak.§  When  night  had  fairly 
fallen,  the  image-breakers  commenced  their  carni- 
val. As  the  great  clock  in  the  belfry  tolled  the  hour 
of  eight,  they  chanted  a  German  psalm ;  and  then, 
as  if  the  weird  music  were  the  formal  opening  of 
their  raid,  they  sprang  upon  the  long-menaced  image 
of  the  Virgin,  tore  off  her  embroidered  robes,  and 
rolled  the  dumb  idol  in  the  dust  amid  frantic  shouts 
of  "  Vivent  les  gueux .'"  i!  This  served  but  to  whet 
the  fury  of  the  image-breakers.  Snatching  the  wax 
tapers  from  the  altars,  they  struck  a  flickering  light, 
which  served  but  to  make  the  darkness  visible,  caus- 
ing the  vast  arena  of  the  dusky  church,  painted  with 
shapes  of  terror,  of  gloom,  and  of  weird  grandeur,  to 
glint  fitfully  out  in  the  solemn  shadow.  Nimbly,  inde- 

"  Brandt,  ubi  sitp.     Strada,  p.  124.  f  Ibid. 

X  Brandt,  ubi  sup.     Bor.,  torn.  2,  p^D.  83,  84. 

§  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  5G0. 

II  Strada,  ubi  sup.    Hoofd,  torn.  3,  p.  100. 


THE  IMAGE- BREAKEES.  385 

fatigably,  audaciously  the  destroyers  worked,  bring- 
ing into  requisition  .  axes,  bludgeons,  sledge-liam- 
mers,  ladders,  pulleys,  ropes,  and  levers,  all  of  whicli 
tbey  bad  carried  concealed  under. tbeir  clotbes.* 
Huge  statues  of  saints,  wbicb  stood  in  niclies  in  tlie 
walls,  were  unfastened,  burled  from  tbeir  pedestals, 
and  backed  in  pieces ;  tbe  marvellously-painted  win- 
dows were  shattered  ;  tbe  walls  were  defiiced  ;  scores 
of  pictures,  tbe  choicest  specimens  of  the  Flemish 
pencil,  were  cut  into  shreds ;  tbe  seventy  altars  were 
hewn  to  bits,  and  rifled  of  tbe  sacred  plate ;  the 
famous  organ,  the  finest  then  extant,  was  demol- 
ished, while  the  air  resounded  with  choruses  wilder 
than  any  its  keyboard  bad  ever  sounded.  Above 
tbe  choir  there  was  one  matchless  group,  Christ 
nailed  upon  a  massive  crucifix,  with  tbe  two  thieves 
banging  on  either  hand ;  the  Avhole  rested  upon  a 
single  column,  but  rose  arch  upon  arch,  pillar  upon 
pillar,  to  the  sheer  height  of  three  hundred  feet, 
until  the  head  of  Christ  was  lost  in  the  cloudy 
vault.t  This  dizzy  masterpiece  was  scaled,  and 
tbe  image  of  the  Redeemer  was  thrown  down,  but 
tbe  two  thieves  were  left  to  bang,  as  if  they  alone 
were  fit  subjects  for  tbe  human  chisel.:];  In  this 
sacrilege  there  was  so  much  concord  and  forecast, 
that  it  seemed  as  if  each  rifler  bad  been  allotted  his 
separate  task  ;§  and  so  swiftly  and  cunningly  did  all 
labor,  that  ere  midnight  struck  the  wreck  was  com- 

«  Hoofd,  tom.S,  p.  100,  et  seq.     Strada,  p.  124. 

t  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  563. 

X  Strada,  uU  sup.  §  Ibid. 


386  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

plete — the  richest  temple  in  the  world  had  been 
reduced  to  a  mere  empty  shell.* 

Although  the  cathedral  was  crowded  throughout 
these  orgies,  the  majority  were  there  as  passive, 
though  sympathetic  spectators ;  the  spoliation  was 
accomplished  by  a  band  of  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, numbering  at  the  most  but  a  hundred  indi- 
viduals.t  We  may  well  marvel  at  the  utterness  of 
the  desecration  which  they  wrought  in  those  few 
brief  hours  of  the  midsummer  night;  nor  is  it  the 
least  remarkable  fact  of  the  congeries  of  wonders, 
that  though  thej  toiled  in  a  darkness  feebly  dis- 
pelled by  tapers,  no  one  of  the  whole  vast  throng- 
was  injured  by  the  random  blows  of  the  iconoclasts 
or  by  the  falling  masses  of  timber,  metal,  and  stone. ']: 

"When  all  was  over,  the  image-breakers  regaled 
themselves  by  draining  the  wine  prepared  for  the 
altar  from  the  pyxes  and  chalices,  and  by  greasing 
their  shoes  with  the  holy  oil,  to  show  their  con- 
tempt for  the  chrism.§  Then,  snatching  fresh  tapers 
from  the  vestry  storehouse,  they  pourecl  out  into  the 
streets,  and  startled  the  drows}^  city  from  its  slum- 
ber by  the  flaming  light  of  their  torches,  and  by 
resounding  shouts  of  "  Vivent  les  gueux  .'"|1  On 
they  swept,  smiting  every  image  of  the  Virgin,  every 

"~  Bor.,  torn.  2,  p.  84.     Beutivoglio,  torn.  2,  p.  3G. 

•j-  Strada,  p.  125.     Corresp.  de  Marg.  d'Autriche,  p.  183. 

X  strada,  uh'i  sup.  Strada  thinks  this  "no  light  argument  that, 
with  God's  permission,  the  work  was  done  under  the  immediate 
direction  of  demons  from  hell."     Strada,  p.  125. 

§  Ibid.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  193. 

II  Ibid.     Hoofd,  torn.  3,  p.  103.     Bor.,  tom.  2,  p.  85. 


THE  IMAGE-BEEAKEES,  387 

sculptured  saint,  every  cross  wliicli  tliey  passed. 
Keinforced  by  some  scores  of  "  lewd  fellows  of  the 
baser  sort,"  intent  on  plunder,  tliey  broke  into  tlie 
other  rehgious  houses  of  Antwerp.  "When  morning- 
dawned,  thirty  churches  had  been  sacked  within 
the  city  walls."  Entering  the  monasteries,  they 
routed  the  monks  out  of  bed,  tore  up  their  ecclesi- 
astical robes,  trampled  the  mass-wafers  and  the 
sacrament-bread  under  foot,  daubed  the  books  of 
the  monkish  libraries  with  butter  to  make  them 
blaze  merrily,  and  then  threw  them  into  the  fire  ; 
and  finally,  descending  into  the  cellars,  and  broach- 
ing every  cask  which  they  could  find,  they  drank 
their  fill  from  the  consecrated  chalices,  and  then 
poured  out  in  one  grand  flood  all  the  old  ale  and 
wine  with  which  these  holy  men  had  been  wont  to 
solace  their  retirement  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion.t  The  convents  also  were  invaded  ;  and  while 
the  hapless  nuns  huddled  on  their  dresses  and  flut- 
tered out  into  the  midnight  streets  in  quest  of  an 
asjdum  unmolested — for  they  had  come  to  destroy, 
not  to  insult  —the  iconoclasts  wreaked  their  ven- 
geance on  the  ecclesiastical  paraphernalia.:}^ 

"While  this  mischief  was  afoot,  the  trembling 
citizens  of  Antwerp  remained  close  shut  up  in  their 
dwellings,  or  ventured,  at  the  most,  but  to  peer  tim- 
idly out  upon  the  street  from  their  barred  windows. 
Ignorant  of  the  strength  of  the  rioters,  whose  num- 

«  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  5G4. 

•}•  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  193.     Strada,  p.  12G.     Motley,  ut  anlea, 

J  Strada,  iibi  fiup. 


388  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

ber  their  imagination  stretched  portentously,  with- 
out leaders,  furnished  with  no  rallying-spots,  and 
surprised  at  midnight,  the  last  thing  which  the  hon- 
est burghers  thought  of  was,  to  sally  out  and  resist 
the  spoilers.  The  papists  suspected  that  it  was  a 
Protestant  plot  for  their  slaughter,  and  so  dared  not 
stir ;  the  reformers  feared  to  move  abroad,  lest  they 
should  be  confounded  with  the  image-breakers.* 
Thus  tied  by  terror,  the  city  stood  still,  while  a  hun- 
dred zealots,  aided  by  as  many  more  thieves  and 
prostitutes,  grown  bold  from  impunity,  raged  up 
and  down  unmolested  through  three  days  and 
nights.t 

But  eventually  the  citizens,  apprized  of  the 
insignificant  number  of  the  rioters,  and  fearful  that 
the  sack  might  be  diverted  from  the  religious  houses 
to  private  mansions,  degenerating  from  fanaticism 
to  a  raid  for  plunder,  sallied  forth ;  and,  as  if  they 
meant  to  revenge  the  commonwealth,  shut  all  the 
city  gates  save  one,  through  which  the  image-break- 
ers scampered  to  pour  out  their  fury  upon  the  adja- 
cent towns,  where  they  reenacted  the  scenes  of  their 
sacrilegious  free-boot  in  Antwerp. |  Presently  a  few 
ventured  to  return.  Entering  the  cathedral,  they  saw 
tliat  they  had  neglected  to  erase  the  roj^al  arms  and 
the  escutcheons  of  the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Fleece 
emblazoned  on  the  walls.  While  busied  in  com- 
pleting their  vandalism,  they  were  charged  by  sev- 
eral knights  who  had  hastily  collected  a  handful  of 

«  Bor.,  torn.  2,  p.  89.     Stracla,  p.  125.     Hopper,  p.  97. 
t  Ibitl.     Hoofil,  torn.  3,  p.  101.  t  .Stmda,  p.  12f!. 


THE  IMAGE-BKEAKEES.  389 

their  followers  for  that  purpose.  Kesoliition  easily 
dispersed  the  band ;  teu  or  twelve  of  them  were  ar- 
rested ;  while  a  gallows,  erected  on  a  rise  of  gi'oiind, 
admonished  Antwerp  that  the  riot  was  suppressed  * 
A  homoeopathic  dose  of  this  stern  phj-sic  stayed  the 
distemper. 

What  the  sun  is  to  the  solar  system,  that  was 
Antwerp  to  the  Lowland  cities — the  vivifying  and 
the  fructifying  centre.  Whatever  word  was  spoken 
there,  was  certain  to  awaken  an  answering  echo  in 
the  provinces ;  it  struck  the  key-note  in  every  march. 
So  now  the  iconomachy  spread  out  from  the  streets 
of  the  metropolis  east,  west,"  north,  south,  convuls- 
ing the  country  from  the  banks  of  the  Scheldt  to 
the  Zuyder  Zee,  as  well  surprising  religion  as  the 
land.  The  image-breakers  travelled  with  the  swift- 
ness of  the  wind,  appearing  almost  simultaneously 
in  widely  distant  places,  shattering  the  consecrated 
trophies  of  Amsterdam,  and  Leyden,  and  Graven- 
hage  at  the  same  time  that  their  comrades  were 
sacking  Breda,  and  Bois-le-Duc,  and  Bergen-op- 
Zoom.t  The  ubiquitous  destroyers  were  rarely  re- 
sisted ;  the  audacity  of  their  onslaught  paralyzed 
the  arm  of  opposition.  At  Mechlin,  less  than  a 
hundred  persons  destroyed  the  ecclesiastical  treas- 
iires  of  the  town  in  the  very  teeth  of  the  grand 
council,  under  the  eyes  of  the  astonished  magis- 
trates.:}: 

■•■'  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  60.  Strada,  uU  sup. 
f  Hoofd,  torn.  3.  Bor.,  torn.  2.  Hopper. 
t  Poutus  Payen,  MS.,  cited  in  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  5G5. 


390  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

In  some  towns,  the  magistrates  themselves  de- 
molished the  obnoxious  ornaments,  to  prevent  the 
mob  from  doing  so ;  and  when  they  plumed  them- 
selves upon  their  foresight,  Viglius  shrugged  his 
shoulders  and  said,  "  They  liave  been  wisely  mad — 
insaniehant  cum  ratione."'^ 

At  Ghent,  the  iconoclasts  had  the  assurance  to 
send  delegates  to  the  city  senate  with  this  message  : 
"  We  have  been  ordered  to  take  the  images  out  of 
the  churches,  as  has  been  done  elsewhere.  If  we 
are  not  opposed,  all  shall  be  done  quietly  and  with 
as  little  injury  as  possible ;  otherwise  we  shall 
storm  the  churches.  'It  would  be  wise  in  jou  to 
take  the  initiative  in  this  work,  by  ordering  the  offi- 
cers of  the  law  to  break  the  idols.  In  that  case,  we 
shall  look  on  with  folded  arms."t  The  naivete  of 
this  demand  astounded  the  magistrates ;  but  upon 
reflection  they  concluded  to  comply  with  it,  think- 
ing thus  to  restrain  excess.  Accordingly,  a  band 
of  city  messengers  marched  from  church  to  church, 
from  monastery  to  monastery,  toppling  over  images, 
tearing  books  and  paintings,  and  breaking  organs 
to  pieces.  Throughout  Ghent,  and  for  six  miles 
about  it,  this  lawful  spoliation  took  place;  and 
when  it  was  finished,  the  city  fell  quietly  to  its  em- 
ployments again.;}:  Haarlem,  Dorfc,  and  Rotterdam, 
averted  the  storm  by  a  kindred  procedure.§ 

The  Valenciennes  magistrates  were  less  comjila- 
cent ;    so   the   image-breakers   assumed   the   task. 

*  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  191.  t  I^^icl-.  Schiller. 

%  Brandt,  uhi  sup,  §  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  201. 


THE  IMAGE-BREAKERS.  391 

"  '  The  traged}','  as  au  eye-wituess  calls  it,,  was  per- 
formed upon  St.  Bartholomew's  day.  It  was,  how- 
ever, only  a  tragedy  of  statues.  Hardly  as  many 
senseless  stones  were  victims  as  there  were  to  be 
living  Huguenots  sacrificed  in  a  single  city  on  a  St. 
Bartliolomew's  day  which  was  fast  approaching ; 
for  in  the  Yalenciennes  'tragedy'  not  a  human 
being  was  injured."* 

The  "scene  at  Tournay  was  the  counterpart'  of 
that  at  Antwerp.  Ecclesiasticism  was  completely 
gutted  of  its  treasures — nothing  was  spared,  noth- 
ing was  overlooked ;  even  the  bowels  of  the  earth, 
in  which  the  churchmen  had  concealed  the  most 
valuable  badges  of  their  creed,  were  ripped  open 
by  the  shrewd  spoilers,  keen  to  discover  the  hid- 
den idols.t 

While  burrowing  in  the  vaults  of  the  cathedral, 
they  turned  up  an  embalmed  body  in  a  state  of 
l^erfect  preservation.  It  was  dragged  from  the  cof- 
fin, and  recognized  as  the  corpse  of  Duke  Adol- 
phus  of  Guelderland,  who  had  been  dead  for  nigh 
a  century.  His  career  had  been  stormy  and  crim- 
inal :  one  of  his  deeds  especially,  something  unnat- 
ural in  its  wickedness,  had  been  preserved  by  tra- 
dition ;  and  now,  after  the  lapse  of  a  Imndred 
years,  was  as  fresh  in  men's  minds  as  his  undecay- 
ed  remains  were  in  the  opened  vault.  Ambitious 
and  turbulent,  Duke  Adolphus  had  essayed  to  ex- 
tort from  the  grasp  of  his  aged  father,  Duke  Arnol- 

-  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  569. 

t  Brandt,  vol.  1,  pp,  198,  199. 


392  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

dus,  a  crown  wliicli  must  soon,  in  the  course  of 
nature,  have  fallen  to  him.  One  night  he  laid  -vio- 
lent hands  upon  the  old  patrician,  and  dragging 
him  from  his  bed,  forced  him,  clad  only  in  his 
night-dress  and  barefooted,  to  walk  in  the  bitter 
winter  cold  twenty-live  miles,  from  Grave  to  Buren, 
while  he  rode  by  his  father's  side  on  horseback. 
There  he  flung  the  venerable  victim  into  a  dungeon, 
where  he  was  left  to  rot  to  death.  For  this  abhor- 
rent crime,  Charles  the  Bold  disinherited  the  brute, 
flinging  him,  in  his  turn,  into  prison.  After  some 
years,  he  was  released  by  the  seditious  citizens  of 
Ghent,  who  forced  him  to  lead  them  in  a  raid  upon 
Tournay.  In  a  meUe  beneath  the  walls  of  that 
city,  Duke  Adolphus  was  slain,  and  there  interred. 
Now,  after  the  passage  of  so  many  years,  fanaticism 
desecrated  the  grave  in  order  to  expose  once  more 
to  execration  the  features  of  a  parricide.  "  He  who 
has  offered  violence  to  one  who  brought  him  into 
the  world,  is  not  worthy  to  rest  in  the  earth,"  said 
the  stern  avengers ;  and  they  sported  with  the  dead 
duke's  bones,  laid  out  in  mockery  on  the  floor  of 
the  cathedral.*  It  has  been  well  called  a  startling 
act  of  posthumous  justice. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  detail  farther  the  deeds 
of  the  iconomachy — no  need  to  mention  all  the 
churches  spoiled,  all  the  idols  demolished,  all  the 
nunneries  set  open,  all  the  abbeys  sacked,  all  the 
libraries  burned :  enough  is  here  for  truth,  and 
there  is  sufficient  to  deplore.  The  image-breakers 
<s  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  199.     Scldller. 


THE  IMAGE-BREAKEES.  393 

were  abroad  less  than  a  fortnight ;  yet  such  was 
their  celerity,  and  such  their  discipline,  that  of  the 
seventeen  provinces  but  four — Limburg,  Naniur, 
Luxemburg,  and  a  part  of  Hainaulfc — came  out  of 
the  storm  unharmed.*  In  all  the  rest  the  destruc- 
tion was  so  utter,  that  Strada  compares  it  to  the 
ruin  caused  by  that  historic  earthquake,  which,  in 
the  reign  of  Tiberius  Caesar,  swallowed  up  twelve 
of  the  Roman  cities.f 

And  indeed,  much  of  the  injury  inflicted  was 
irremediable.  The  silver,  the  gold,  the  precious 
stones  which  were  lost,  might  be  replaced.  Four 
hundred  thousand  ducats  might  go  far  towards  the 
restoration  of  the  rifled  splendor  of  Antwerp  cathe- 
dral, which  was  considered  to  have  been  damaged  to 
that  amount.:j:  But  what  wealth  could  re-collect  the 
yellow  and  time-worn  parchments  of  the  consumed 
library  of  Vicoque?  What  hand  could  block  out 
anew  the  desecrated  marbles  of  Angelo's  chisel? 
What  pencil  could  retrace  the  tattered  beauties  of 
the  antique  masters?  Surely  Art  has  a  right  to 
weep  for  her  lost  children. 

But  art  alone  may  be  permitted  to  moan — hu- 
manity deplores  no  victims.  None  but  ecclesiastical 
property  was  wrecked  —  not  a  private  house  was 
touched,  not  a  public  building  was  sacked ;  and  it 
is  a  singular  fact  that  throughout  the  tumult,  the 
iconoclasts  outraged  no  woman,  and  slew  no  oppo- 
nent.    It  was  a  massacre  of  images — vandalism, 

*  Hoofd,  torn.  3,  p.  103.  +  Strada,  p.  126. 

J  Strada,  uhl  sup. 


394  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

but  not  bloodthirstiness.  Who,  then,  shall  venture 
to  compare  this  havoc  among  stocks  and  marbles 
and  canvas  to  the  human  ravages  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion ?  'T  is  an  instructive  illustration  of  the  radical 
difference  between  Eome  and  the  Reformation. 
Protestantism  in  its  most  frantic  mood  beheaded 
images ;  the  Inquisition  in  its  most  placid  temper 
slew  men. 

Nor  were  the  image-breakers  a  profligate  rab- 
ble— "  the  lowest  dregs  of  an  abandoned  populace," 
as  many  chroniclers  of  their  acts  have  asserted.  It 
is  indeed  true  that  their  camp-followers,  to  borrow 
a  military  figure,  were  thieves  and  prostitutes,  strug- 
gling merely  for  what  they  could  filch,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  tumult  to  plunder ;  but  the  chief 
actors  in  the  drama  were  honest,  though  mistaken 
zealots.  The  guiding  helm  of  the  iconomachy  was 
conscience — conscience  awry  and  fanaticised ;  but 
still  conscience.  A  thoughtful  writer  has  reminded 
us  that  while  "  an  educated  nation  without  relioion 
is  like  a  skeleton  bearing  a  lamp  with  light  but  no 
force;  a  people  with  the  religious  instinct  strongly 
developed  is  like  a  giant  smitten  blind,  avIio  rushes 
wildly  on,  impelled  by  a  resistless  motor,  but  tow- 
ards no  noble  goal."'"'  This  was  the  hapless  pre- 
dicament of  these  spoilers ;  ignorant  and  frenzied, 
they  "  saw  as  through  a  glass,  darkly." 

But  that  the  iconoclasts  were  honest  there  is 
abundant  evidence.  Their  moderation  in  every 
thing  save  the  ecclesiastical  spoliation,  proves  it. 

«  Bayue,  Cluistian  Life,  p.  527. 


THE  IMAGE-BEEAKERS.  395 

"Everywhere,"  observes  Motley,  "tliey  left  heaps 
of  costly  embroidery,  of  gold  and  silver  plate,  of 
glittering  jewels,  lying  unheeded  on  the  floor ;  feel- 
ing instinctively  that  a  great  passion  would  be  con- 
taminated by  admixture  with  paltry  motives.  In 
Flanders,  a  company  of  them  hanged  one  of  their 
own  number  for  stealing  articles  to  the  value  of  five 
shillings.  In  Valenciennes  they  were  offered  a 
round  sum  if  they  would  refrain  from  demolishing 
the  churches — a  proposal  which  tbey  rejected  with 
disdain.  At  Tournay,  the  floor  of  the  cathedral 
was  strewn  wdtli  '  pearls  and  precious  stones,  with 
chalices  and  rich  reliquaries  ;'  but  the  ministers  of 
the  reformed  religion,  in  company  with  the  city 
magistrates,  came  to  the  spot  and  found  no  difli- 
cult}',  though  utterly  powerless  to  curb  the  tumult, 
in  taking  quiet  possession  of  the  wreck.  '  We  had 
every  thing  of  value,'  says  Procureur-Gendral  De  la 
Barre,  '  carefully  inventoried,  weighed,  locked  in 
chests,  and  placed  under  a  strict  guard  in  the  pris- 
on of  Halle,  to  which  one  set  of  keys,  were  given  to 
the  ministers  and  another  to  the  magistrates.'  "* 

In  many  instances,  the  image-breakers  volun- 
tarily restored  to  the  municipal  authorities  rich 
collections  of  plate  ;t  and  when  any  of  the  valu- 
ables were  appropriated,  these  were  gathered  into 
heaps  and  delivered  to  their  preachers,  w^ho  caused 
them  to  be  melted  down  and  distributed  among  the 

«  Motley,  vol.  1,  pp.  571,  572. 

t  Meteren,  book  2,  folio  43.    Hoofd,  toui.  3,  pp.  98,  U'J.   Braudt, 
vol.  1,  p.  195. 


396  THE  DUTCH  EEI^OEMATION. 

most  needy  of  tlie  sectaries.*  The  destruction  it- 
self was  discriminating.  At  Bois-le-Duc  every  mar- 
ble saint  was  martyred,  but  two  brazen  statues  of 
Moses  and  David  were  left  untouclied — these  wer^ 
not  idolatrous.t  In  the  mcUe  at  Antwerp,  a  Car- 
melite monk  who  had  lain  for  twelve  weary  years' 
in  the  dungeon  of  the  Barefoot  monastery,  on  a 
charge  of  heresy,  was  liberated.;]: 

But  even  had  all  this  been  otherwise,  the  icono- 
clasts were  an  insignificant  faction — here  a  hundred, 
and  there  a  score  ;§  and  the  odium  of  their  pranks 
ought  not  to  fall  upon  the  Netherland  Protestants. 
The  reformed  preachers—Wille,  Strycker,  Junius, 
and  the  rest — labored  iudefatigably  to  quell  the 
riots.ll  The  gueux  pronounced  the  outbreak  insen- 
sate and  flagitious.TT  The  whole  body  of  the  re- 
formers formally  disavowed  it.**  "  I  do  not  think 
it  strange,"  says  the  famous  Dutch  historian  Hoofd, 
"  since  there  are  good  and  bad  men  in  all  sects, 
that  the  vilest  of  the  reformed  showed  their  temper 
by  these  extravagances;  nor  tliat  others  fed  their 
eyes  with  a  sport  that  grew  up  to  a  plague,  which 
they  thought  the  papal  clergy  had  justly  deserved 
by  the  rage  of  their  persecutions.  'Tis  probable 
that  many  did  not  trouble  themselves  overmuch 

«  Eeuom.  de  Fraucia.     Cited  in  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  G4. 
t  Brandt,  Vol.  1,  p.  197.  %  Ibid.,  p.  193. 

§  Strada,  p.  125.     Eenom.  de  Fraucia,   MS.,  torn.  1,  chap.  20. 
Pontus  Payen,  MS. 

II  Brandt,  vol.  1,  pp.  19i-22l,  passim.     De  la  Barre,  MS. 
«i|  Groan  v.  Prinst.,  Archives,  etc.,  torn.  2,  pp.  261,  265,  483. 
*'^-  Brandt,  uhi  sup.     Hoofd,  torn.  3,  p.  102. 


THE  IMAGE-BEEAKEES.  397 

about  the  mattei*,  hoping  that  one  madness  might 
cure  the  other,  and  thus  order  come  from  confusion. 
But  the  generaHtj  of  the  reformed  certainly  behaved 
nobly,  by  censuring  results  "svhich  they  esteemed 
good  and  proper,  because  these  were  brought  about 
by  improper  methods."* 

Some  one  has  said  that  fools  and  wise  men  are 
not  two  separate  nations,  with  a  sea  rolling  between 
them,  but  neighbors  on  a  common  border  land, 
where  many  dwell  whose  nationality  it  is  difficult 
to  decide  on.  The  image-breakers  seemed  to  prove 
it,  for,  as  Yiglius  said,  they  were  wisely  mad.  A 
church  which  believed  that  it  could  chain  the  future 
under  the  past,  deified  images ;  the  iconomachy  was 
the  scoffing  answer  of  a  faction  half  awake  to  the 
truth.    Thus  it  is  that  fanaticism  breeds  fanaticism. 

After  all,  there  was  a  profound  philosoj)hy  at 
the  bottom  of  the  image-breaking.  It  has  been 
customary  to  bewail  the  fact  that  the  first  steps  of 
the  Eeformation  were  taken  on  the  ruins  of  art,  and 
that  the  reforming  so  readily  degenerated  into  the 
destructive  principle ;  though  eminent  historians 
have  found  a  compensation  in  the  good  done  by 
breaking  the  fetters  of  the  intellect,  and  opening  a 
free  range  in  those  domains  of  science  to  which 
access  hitherto  had  been  denied. t  Doubtless,  this 
was  the  fact ;  nevertheless,  destruction  has  its  part 
in  God's  law  of  progress,  as  countless  analogies  in 
nature  avouch. 

*  Cited  in  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  194. 

t  See  Frescott,  vol.  2,  p.  64  ;  and  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  552. 


398  THE  DUTCH  BEFORMATION. 

But,  rightly  read,  the  iconomachy  was  not  a  cru- 
sade against  art  as  art.  The  image-breakers  had  no 
quarrel  with  the  breathing  canvas  of  the  master 
artists — with  the  Hfedike  statues  of  the  antique 
sculptors,  considered  as  mere  artistic  trophies :  it 
was  their  idea;  it  was  that  subtle  something  which 
these  represented;  it  was  the  madonna  and  the 
saints  who  had  entered  into  and  made  them  instinct 
with  idolatrous  life,  and  the  uses  to  which  they  were 
put,  that  awakened  their  ire  and  provoked  their 
assault. 

In  assailing  the  art  of  that  epoch,  the  iconoclasts 
struck  at  what  it  stood  for — smote  the  jailer  who 
had  imprisoned  the  spirit  of  beauty ;  for  it  is  Rus- 
kin,  the  most  fascinating  writer  on  the  ethics  of  art 
in  our  English  letters,  who  assures  us  that  "  art  is 
always  the  expression  of  natural  life  and  character; 
that  every  nation's  vice  or  virtue  is  written  in  it— 
the  soldiership  of  early  Greece,  the  sensuality  of 
late  Italy,  the  visionary  religion  of  Tuscany,  the 
splendid  but  human  beauty  of  Yenice."* 

The  image-breakers  were  the  contemporaries  of 
the  Eevivalists,  and  they  recognized  the  covert 
atheism  of  their  art  by  intuition.  Nor  must  the 
argument  which  educes  this  be  esteemed  metaphys- 
icah  What  we  can  see  is  but  the  bone  and  muscle 
of  wonder ;  what  we  think  is  its  soul.  Tlie  eye  of 
imagination  sweeps  a  wider  horizon  than  the  glasses 
of  astronom3^t 

*  Ruskin,  Crown  of  Wild  Olive,  Lecture  on  Traffic,  p.  55. 
t  Hunt,  Lieu,  Women,  and  Books,  vol.  1,  p.  9. 


THE  IMAGE-BEEAKERS.  313 

Now  ignorance  never  stops  to  reason ;  it  divines 
and  acts,  "  ThougLt  widens,  but  lames ;  action 
narrows,  but  animates,"  is  a  profound  apothegm  of 
Goethe.  The  iconomachy  was  no  murder  of  art ; 
it  was  bhnd  Samson  dragging  down  the  temple  on 
the  heads  of  the  Philistines ;  it  was  Baconian  induc- 
tion and  Platonic  ardor. 

We  have  looked  upon  the  bloodless  "  massacre 
of  the  innocents"  in  the  provinces;  how  was  the 
report  of  this  catastrophe  without  a  victim  received 
by  the  court  at  Brussels  ?  With  tears  and  impre- 
cations. The  government  oscillated  between  resent- 
ment and  dismay.  When  the  first  tidings  came, 
most  of  the  grandees  were  in  town,  summoned 
thither  by  the  duchess  to  attend  an  important  meet- 
ing of  the  state  council.*  Margaret  at  once  con- 
vened them.  "  Seigneurs,"  said  she,  "  'tis  commonly 
reported  that  these  villanies  are  committed,  some 
of  you  not  only  not  resisting,  but  being  also  privy 
and  assistant  in  the  plot.  What  is  fit  to  be  done  by 
men  of  honor,  look  you  to  that ;  for  what  concerns 
myself,  I  religiously  profess  that  no  man's  menaces 
shall  persuade  me  to  mix  the  new  figments  of  these 
heretics  with  the  ancient  and  orthodox  religion. 
Nay,  if  the  king  himself,  upon  whose  grace  and 
pleasure  I  depend,  should  grant  the  Low  Country- 
men to  be  of  what  religion  they  list — which  how  far 
it  is  from  his  majesty's  intention  none  can  be  igno- 
rant— I  would  instantly  quit  the  land,  because  I 
would  not  be  the  agent  or  interpreter  of  such  iudul- 

«  Straila,  p.  127.     Vita  Viglii,  Iloofd. 


400  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

gence.  Look  not,  then,  to  fright  me  with  great 
names,  and  so  enforce  my  consent  to  unjust  de- 
mands.""'^ 

Evidently  the  duchess  was  in  a  belhcose  mood; 
events  soon  "  tamed  th*e  shrew." 

Orange  opposed  harsh  measures,  and  advised 
conciliation.  His  practical  statesmanship  never 
mistook  the  look  of  an  argument  for  the  proof  of  it. 
•'Look,  madame,"  said  he,  "the  reformed  number 
upwards  of  two  hundred  thousand  armed  men;  their 
temper  is  now  sullen ;  but  grant  them  to  meet  safely 
and  peaceably  in  those  places  where  they  have 
been  wont  to  assemble,  and  they  are  instantly  trans- 
formed into  loyal  citizens.  Disarm  them  by  such  a 
coup  cVetat.  What  else  can  we  do  ?  Here  are  no 
mercenaries;  and  for  the  guild  militia-men,  they 
will  not  enforce  the  placards  against  their  co-reli- 
gionists."! 

"  It  would  ring  the  death-knell  of  our  holy 
faith,"  replied  the  duchess.:]:  "  Your  highness," 
chimed  in  Egmont,  "  first  let  us  save  the  state ; 
when  that  is  done,  it  will  be  time  enough  to  think 
of  religion. "§  "Nay,"  cried  the  regent  heatedly, 
"  faith  demands  our  first  care ;  for  the  ruin  of  reli- 
gion would  be  a  greater  evil  than  the  loss  of  the 
provinces. "il  "  Those  who  have  any  thing  in  them 
to  lose  will  probably  think  otherwise,"  was  Eg- 
mont's  dry  retort.^ 

«  Given  in  Strada,  p.  128.  f  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  204. 

X  Cor.  de  Marg.  d'Autriche,  p.  188.       §  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  G7. 
II  Ibid.     Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  449.  ^  Ibid. 


THE  IMAGE-BREAKEKS.  401 

But  the  seigneurs  argued  in  vain ;  for  several 
days  the  governant  remained  inflexible.  Mean- 
time, the  riot  broadened  portentously.  Gossips  told 
of  the  Avild  deeds  done  in  Flanders ;  news  came  of 
the  sack  of  Antwerp  cathedral ;  the  city  grew  pale 
as  it  listened  to  accounts,  somewhat  exaggerated,  as 
is  dame  Rumor's  wont,  of  the  outbreaks  at  Amster- 
dam, at  Valenciennes,  at  Tournay.  The  whole  coun- 
try seemed  ablaze;  every  breeze  that  swept  over 
Brussels  wafted  the  frantic  choruses  of  the  image- 
breakers  into  Margaret's  ears.  The  doubt  and  anx- 
iety of  the  unhappy  duchess  brought  on  a  fever  ; 
she  tossed  on  her  couch  in  a  delirium  of  anguish.* 
But  when  she  was  told  that  Brussels  stood  next  on 
the  red  list  of  the  iconoclasts,  fear  conquered  dis- 
ease, and  she  determined  to  forsake  the  capital.f 

She  selected  Mons,  a  strongly  fortified  town  in 
Hainault,  whose  citizens  were  sturdy  papists,  as  an 
asylum  ;:j:  and  when  this  choice  was  made,  ordered 
the  preparations  for  her  flight  to  be  pushed  forward 
with  the  utmost  secresy  and  celerity.  At  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  August,  Orange, 
Egmont,  Hoogstraaten,  Horn,  and  Mansfeld  were 
aroused  from  their  slumbers  by  a  summons  to  re- 
pair at  once  to  the  governant's  residence.§  When 
the  drowsy  seigneurs  reached  the  palace,  they  were 
surprised  to  find  that  Margaret,  attended  by  Bar- 
laiment,  Aerschot,  and  Noircarmes,  was  equipped 

"■  Con-esp.  de  Marg.  d'Autricbe,  p.  191. 

t  Strada,  p.  129.     Vita  Viglii,  pp.  47,  48.  f  Ibid. 

§  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  573. 


402  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

for  fliglit,  while  lier  waiting-women  and  lacqueys 
with  mules  and  hackneys  already  harnessed  stood 
waiting  in  the  court-yard  for  the  order  to  set  out.* 

"Yes,"  said  the  duchess,  in  response  to  the  mute 
looks  of  inquiry  which  her  guests  directed  upon  her, 
"  his  grace  of  Aerschot  has  offered  me  the  protec- 
tion of  the  stout  walls  of  Mons.  I  shall  there  abide 
the  subsidence  of  the  rebellion,"! 

The  enormous  blunder  of  such  a  step  as  the 
regent's  flight  before  the  threats  of  a  few  score  of 
rioters,  was  perceived  by  all.  "  Madame,"  said 
Orange,  "  if  you  thus  abandon  the  government,  it 
will  be  necessary  at  once  to  summon  the  states-gen- 
eral, that  measures  may  be  taken  to  preserve  the 
country."!  "  If  you  quit  Brussels  for  Mons,"  cried 
the  fiery  Egmont,  "  I  will  inuster  forty  thousand 
men  and  besiege  Mons  in  person. "§  "  Your  high- 
ness, tarry  here,"  pleaded  Horn  ;  "  nowhere  else  can 
you  be  so  safe.  I  pledge  my  word  that,  if  neces- 
sity occurs,  I  will  escort  you  in  safety  from  the  city, 
or  lose  my  life  in  the  attempt."|l 

But  so  great  was  Margaret's  trepidation,  that  she 
was  deaf  to  reason,  until  Viglius  entered  the  apart- 
ment and  told  her  that  the  burghers  had  learned  of 
her  intended  departure  and  defeated  the  plan  by 
closing  and  guarding  the  gates.*!!  Thus  a  prisoner 
in  the  capital,  the  duchess  was  compelled  to  relin- 

*  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  573.  Corresp.  de  Marg.  cl'Autricbe, 
p.  188.  t  Ibid. 

%  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  G9.  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1, 
p.  454.  §  Ibid. 

II  Motley,  ubi  sup.  Strada,  p.  129.  H  Vita  Viglii,  p.  48. 


THE  IMAGE-BEEAKEES.  403 

quisli  her  madcap  jaunt ;  and  at  length,  somewhat 
cahned  by  the  promises  of  protection  which  the 
grandees  uttered,  she  consented  to  retire  to  her 
apartment;  while  Orange,  Egmont,  and  the  rest 
went  to  the  stadthouse  to  convene  the  citizens  and 
concert  measures  for  the  security  of  Brussels.* 

Mansfeld  was  appointed  captain-general  of  the 
city ;  the  seigneurs  agreed  to  serve  under  him,  and 
there  was  not  the  ghost  of  a  disturbance.!  Never- 
theless, Margaret  suffered  a  relapse.  At  seven 
o'clock  in  the  evening  of  this  same  day,  she  once 
more  summoned  the  nobles  to  her  palace,  and  in- 
formed them  that  she  had  certain  information  that 
the  churches  would  be  sacked  that  night ;  that  Vig- 
lius,  Barliament,  and  Aremberg  would  be  slain ;  and 
that  she  herself  with  Egmont  would  be  taken  pris- 
oners.:}: Then  turning  fiercely  upon  Horn,  she  re- 
proached him  for  hindering  her  flight,  and  bade  him 
redeem  his  promise  by  cutting  his  way  through  the 
burgher  guard  at  the  Brussels  posterns.§  Finally, 
the  regent  was  again  calmed ;  and  the  night  passed 
without  disturbance.il 

It  was  evident,  however,  that  something  must  be 
done  beyond  soothing  the  silly  fears  of  a  fevered 
woman.  Margaret  herself  at  length  recognized  the 
necessity  of  action.  On  the  25tli  of  August,  not- 
withstanding her  oath  never  to  be  the  agent  of  in- 

*  Vita  Vigli,  p.  48.     Prescott,  Motley.  f  Ibid. 

X  Bor.,  torn.  2,  p.  85.     Hoofd,  torn.  3,  p.  107. 
§  Letter  of  Horn  to  Moutigny.     Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  575. 
II  Hoofd.     Bor.,  ubi  sup.     Cor.  de  Marg.  d'Autriche,  p.  19G. 


404  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

diligence  to  heretics,  she  signed  a  paper  which  bur- 
ied the  past  in  oblivion  ;  guaranteed  the  right  of  the 
reformers  to  assemble  for  worship  in  places  already 
dedicated  as  altars,  pending  the  decision  of  Philip 
and  the  states-general ;  and  exacted  in  return  a 
promise  of  peaceable  behavior  on  the  part  of  the 
Protestants,  and  on  the  part  of  the  gueiix  a  renun- 
ciation of  their  league  so  long  as  the  accord  was 
faithfully  observed  by  the  government.* 

To  this  agreement  all  parties  appended  their 
signatures  ;  and  while  the  ink  on  the  parchment  was 
still  wet,  couriers  sped  with  it  in  all  directions  to 
proclaim  it  law.t 

This  was,  thus  far,  the  high-water  mark  of  con- 
cession. The  governant  shed  tears  of  shame  and 
resentment  as  she  scrawled  her  name  at  its  bottom. 
On  retiring  to  her  cabinet,  she  at  once  Avrote  to 
Philip  an  account  of  what  she  had  been  obliged  to 
do.  "  Alas,  sire  " — it  was  so  that  the  letter  ran — 
"believe  not  that  the  execrable  deed  is  mine.  I 
beseech  and  conjure  you  not  to  make  it  good.":}: 

Thus  deliberately  did  the  duchess  perjure  her- 
self, thus  without  a  scruple  did  she  counsel  dishonor. 
Such  meanness  was  in  her  blood.  Her  father,  the 
emperor,  had  once  and  again  pawned  his  word  only 
to  break  it.  Her  brother,  the  king,  had  called  in  a 
notary  to  bear  solemn  witness  that  he  repudiated 

■''■  Meteren,  folio  45.  Corresi?.  de  Phili^jpe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  144. 
Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  204.     Strada,  p.  130.  f  Ibid. 

J  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  453.  Strada  gives  a  tran- 
ginript  of  this  letter  at  p.  130. 


THE  IMAGE-BEEAKEKS.  405 

an  absurd  list  of  concessions,  because  events  had 
wruug  them  from  him  against  his  wilL  In  the  six- 
teenth century  this  was  diplomacy;  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  it  would  be  swindling.  The  bas- 
tard duchess  had  learned  moralit}^  from  the  lips  of 
Ignatius  Loyola.  This  is  not  the  only  incident  in 
her  career  which  proves  that  the  lessons  of  the  Jes- 
uit were  not  barren  labor. 

It  would  be  idle  to  speculate  as  to  the  effect  of 
the  accord  had  it  been  honest ;  that  consideration 
must  be  remitted  to  what  mediaeval  Scotchmen 
called  the  media  scientia — the  science  which  treats 
of  how  affairs  would  have  fallen  out,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  happening  of  certain  other  things. 

However,  as  they  separated,  each  to  return  to 
his  post,  most  of  the  seigneurs  pocketed  the  paper 
complacently;  they  esteemed  it  certain  to  cure  the 
diseased  land.  "  Presto  !"  cried  they ;  "  we  are 
well."  But,  alas,  the  patient  was  not  convalescent"; 
this  Avas  the  hectic  flush  of  fever,  not  the  roseate 
hue  of  health. 


4:06  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE   EEAGTION. 

The  accord,  tlioiigli  wrung  from  the  reluctant 
hand  of  the  frightened  governant,  was  one  of  the 
most  popular  state  papers  ever  published  in  the 
Netherlands ;  for  the  masses,  always  credulous,  ever 
charitable  in  the  construction  of  doubtful  acts, 
believed  it  to  be  at  once  the  death-warrant  of  the 
Inquisition  and  the  guaranty  of  plenary  toleration. 
Consequently,  the  grudged  concessions,  more  potent 
than  the  exhortatory  chatter  of  the  bewildered  mag- 
istrates, more  efficacious  than,  the  mandatory  let- 
ters of  Margaret,  went  far  to  restore  tranquillity. 

But  the  cessation  of  image-breaking,  though  gen- 
eral, was  not  universal.  Local  outbreaks  occurred 
here  and  there — isolated  evidences  of  tli^  subsiding 
convulsion.  To  complete  the  pacification,  the  gran- 
dees cut  short  their  conferences  at  Brussels  and  in- 
stantly set  out  for  their  respective  stadtholderates, 
following  hard  upon  the  couriers  who  sped  before  to 
announce  the  accord.  Orange  reentered  Antwerp; 
Hoogstraaten  repaired  to  Mechlin  ;  Megen  returned 
to  Guelders ;  Egmont  went  to  Flanders  ;  Horn,  in  the 
absence  of  his  brother-in-law  Moutigny,  entangled 
in  the  Sjpanisli  web  at  Madrid,  hastened  to  Tournay, 
the  seat  of  that  hapless  seigneur's  government.-' 

At  Antwerp,  wearied  insurrection  had  sobbed 

'■^  Bor.,  torn.  2,  p.  84,  et  seq.     Poutus  Payen,  MS. 


THE  EEACTION.  407 

itself  to  sleep  ;  therefore  the  duty  of  the  prince  was 
not  repression,  but  conservation.  Soon  after  his 
arrival,  the  burgomasters,  emboldened  by  his  pres- 
ence, and  to  display  their  zeal,  hung  three  of  the 
rioters  whom  they  had  captured.*  To  prevent  fur- 
ther bloodshed,  AVilliam  hastily  arranged  terms  of 
agreement  between  all  parties  on  the  basis  of  the 
accord,  and  labored  with  tireless  energy  to  exorcise 
the  spirit  of  discord  that  still  lingered  in  the  city. 
After  protracted  negotiations,  the  reformers,  Avho 
had  possessed  themselves  of  the  despoiled  churches, 
were  persuaded  to  surrender  them  to  the  Koman- 
ists;  but,  in  return,  each  of  the  Protestant  sects 
received  permission  to  erect  a  chapel  in  a  specified 
quarter  of  the  town.  At  the  same  time,  armed 
attendance  upon  sermons  was  prohibited;  and 
preachers  of  all  creeds  were  forbidden  to  assail 
then"  adversaries  from  the  pulpit,  or  to  enter  upon 
controverted  points — at  least  beyond  what  ethics 
and  the  doctrine  inculcated  made  unavoidable.  Into 
this  convention,  which  was  to  hold  good  until  the 
king,  with  the  consent  of  the  states-general,  deter- 
mined otherwise,  the  well-satisfied  citizens  of  Ant- 
werp entered;  with  the  proviso  that  if  the  final 
decision  of  the  government  should  nullify  this  set- 
tlement, its  ratifiers  might  submit,  or  be  free  to  quit 
the  provinces,  with  their  families  and  properties,  at 
their  option:  meantime,  all  the  well-disposed  were 
taken  under  the  protection  of  the  city.f 

*  Hoofd,  torn.  3,  p.  102.     Groen  y.  Priust.,  Areb.,  etc. 
t  Bor.,  torn.  2,  p.  98,  et  seq.     Hoofd,  torn.  3,  p.  111. 


408  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

The  clause  of  this  plan  which  permitted  the 
reformed  to  meet  for  worship  within  Antwerp  gates, 
displeased  the  regent.  To  her  letter  of  remon- 
strance, Orange  replied  by  offering  to  resign.* 

Nothing  was  farther  from  Margaret's  intention 
than  to  permit  the  prince  to  retire;  he  was  not  to 
be  spared  at  this  crisis.  Accordingly,  the  politic 
princess  made  haste  to  mollify  the  offended  seign- 
eur, by  verbally  approving  a  measure  which  had 
awakened  her  secret  resentment.f 

But  Orange  was  not  deceived;  he  was  aware 
that  this  whole  chapter  of  events  would  be  offen- 
sive reading  to  Philip.  While  the  concessions  which 
quieted  Antwerp  still  awaited  the  endorsement  of 
the  burghers,  he  gave  a  dinner  to  Sir  Thomas  Gre- 
sham,  the  English  ambassador  resident  in  the  me- 
tropolis. "  In  all  his  talk,"  reported  the  English- 
man, "  the  j)rince  said  to  me,  '  I  know  that  this  will 
nothing  content  the  king.'  ":t^ 

Still,  William  relaxed  no  effort  to  restore  order, 
nobly  true  to  himself  and  to  his  promise  to  the 
regent,  made  on  the  ratification  of  the  accord.  In 
pursuance  of  this  purpose,  now  that  Antwerp  was 
"  sitting  clothed  and  in  its  right  mind,"  he  started 
for  the  north,  to  placate  Utrecht  and  Holland.  His 
presence  was  required;  for  the  Dutch,  though  less 
easy  to  excite  than  the  Flemings  and  Brabanters, 

'•  Hoofd,  nhi  sup.     Brautlt,  vol.  1,  p.  206. 
t  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  72.     Strada,  pp.  130,  131. 
t  Bnrgon,  torn.  2,  page  161.     Cited  in  Motley,  volume  2,  page 
18. 


THE  EEACTION.  400 

were,  wlieu  aroused,  much  more  diiScult  to  appease. 
Even  as  lie  journeyed,  reports  of  their  wild  doings 
reached  his  ears. 

The  bruited  approach  of  Orange  appeased  these 
unseemly  tumults ;  and  when  the  statesman-prince 
reached  the  insurgent  districts,  his  wise  and  pacific 
measures  disarmed  riot.  In  Amsterdam,  in  Ley- 
den,  in  Utrecht,  at  the  Hague,  law  and  order  were 
reestablished  on  the  basis  of  the  liberal  Antwerp 
agreement.*  The  genius  of  Peace  seemed  to  clasp 
hands  with  William  as  he  sped  through  the  coun- 
try to  the  borders  of  the  Zuyder  Zee. 

Equally  active  was  Hoogstraaten  at  Mechlin. 
The  young  and  fiery  seigneur  construed  the  conces- 
sions of  the  prince  into  precedents,  and  he  employed 
the  same  means  to  conciliate  and  tranquillize  the 
turbulent  citizens  of  Granvelle's  former  see.t  His 
success  was  added  evidence  of  the  policy  of  justice. 
From  the  enjoyment  of  these  peaceful  triumphs,  he 
was  called  by  Margaret  to  take  charge  of  Antwerp 
in  the  absence  of  Orange.:}; 

Guelders,  less  happy  than  Holland  and  Bra- 
bant, was  dragooned  into  submission  by  weapons 
forged  in  a  ruder  armory  than  that  of  justice.  The 
bigoted  Count  Megen  was  stadtholder  of  that  prov- 
ince, and  he  supjiressed  the  conventicles  of  the 
reformed,  banished  the  evangelical  preachers,  and 
hacked  right  and  left  without  stint  or  mercy,  in 

■■•'  Bor.,  torn.  2,  p.  101,  et  seq.     Hoofd,  torn.  3. 
t  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  20G.     Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  74. 
I  Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  58. 

Diitcli  Kef.  18 


410  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

the  very  teeth  of  the  accord  of  August.*  The 
duchess  rubbed  her  hands  gleefully.  "  There  is 
one  man  at  least,"  said  she,  "  who  knows  his  duty, 
and  does  not  pester  me  with  demands  for  conces- 
sion." "Aye,"  cried  Viglius,  "would  that  we  had 
his  twin  in  Holland."  Probably  that  bit  of  bog 
turned  up  to  dry  did  not  reciprocate  the  senti- 
ment. 

Egmont  was  in  Flanders.  The  shuttlecock  sol- 
dier, who  was  "every  thing  by  turns  and  nothing 
long,"  now  had  a  fit  of  ultra  loyalty.  Envious  of 
Megen's  laurels  and  of  the  smiles  with  which  the 
court  rewarded  severity,  he  aspired  to  become  that 
"twin"  for  whom  Viglius  sighed.  Besides,  he  was 
a  fervent  Komanist,  and  in  his  eyes  the  image- 
breaking  was  the  unj)ardonable  sin.  "  Sooner  or 
later,  we  must  take  up  arms  to  briug  these  reform- 
ers to  reason,"  said  he;  "else  they  will  lay  down 
the  law  for  us."t 

It  was  in  this  spirit  of  unscrupulous  partisanship 
that  Egmont  acted — swooping  to  vengeance,  not 
aiming  at  pacification.  At  the  head  of  a  small  band 
of  men-at-arms — for  the  jealousy  of  Margaret  would 
not  grant  him  more  than  an  insignificant  comple- 
ment of  soldiers;[: — he  scoured  Flanders  and  Artois, 
suppressing  conventicles,  imprisoning  the  reformed 
pastors,  executing  what  image-breakers  he  could 
ferret  out,  and  banishing  immense  numbers  of  the 

"  Schiller,  p.  11.     Hoofcl.    Pontus  Pay  en,  MS. 

t  Pontus  Payeu,  MS. 

X  Correspoudance  de  Philij^pc  II.,  torn.  1.  p.  459 


THE  REACTION.  411 

suspected.*  This  raid  met  no  resistance ;  for  though 
his  force  was  small,  his  name  was  a  host,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  he  had  dropped  the  haton  of 
GraveHnes  and  St.  Quentin,  to  clutch  the  inquisito- 
rial staff  of  Peter  Titelmann. 

Nor  did  the  famous  soldier's  newborn  zeal  flag ; 
it  did  not  even  balk  at  dishonor.  Against  the  char- 
ters of  the  town,  he  introduced  a  garrison  of  mer- 
cenaries into  Ghent.!  Against  the  most  precious 
clauses  of  the  accord,  he  suppressed  the  preachings 
in  places  where  they  had  been  long  established. | 
Against  the  record  of  his  past,  he  pushed  the  gueux 
to  desert  the  cause  which  they  had  pledged  them- 
selves to  uphold,  and  to  join  with  him  in  the  Span- 
ish hunt.§ 

Profound  was  the  sensation  which  this  conduct 
caused.  Various  were  the  comments.  At  court,  it 
was  regarded  as  the  shrewd  manoeuvre  of  a  half- 
proscribed  offender  to  regain  the  royal  favor.  At 
Brederode's  feasts,  it  was  branded  as  the  flagitious 
abandonment  of  the  popular  party  —  an  opinion 
which  was  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  Egmont's 
secretary,  Bakkerzeel,  one  of  the  earliest  of  the 
leaguers,  and  influential  with  his  master  to  a  prov- 
erb, was  now  enacting  the  part  of  a  persecutor  with 
edaf.  "Amid  all  the  perplexities  of  the  duchess 
regent,"  observes  a  contemporaneous  historian  of 
the  court,  "  this  Virtuous  princess  was  consoled  by 

«'  Pontus  Payen,  MS.     Motley,  vol.  1,  p.  12,  el  seq.     Prescott, 
vol.  2,  p.  74.  t  Schiller,  p.  12.     Hooftl,  torn.  3. 

X  Ibid.     Motley,  ubi  sujy.  §  Ibiil- 


412  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

the  exploits  of  Bakkerzeel,  a  gentleman  in  Count 
Egmont's  service.  On  one  occasion  lie  hanged 
twenty-nine  heretics  at  a  single  heat."*  Doubtless 
the  true  explanation  of  Egmont's  conduct  is,  that 
he  was  a  volatile,  vain,  enthusiastic  blunderer  in 
politics,  whose  zeal  was  wont  to  run  away  with  his 
discretion,  making  him  to-day  a  champion  of  the 
people,  to-morrow  a  contender  for  autocracy. 

However  this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  Egmont 
speedily  filled  Flanders  and  Artois  with  the  tearful 
wives  and  moaning  children  of  men  whose  heads 
had  fallen  beneath  the  axe  of  the  executioner,  or 
who  had  crossed  the  sea  to  esca^^e  the  devouring 
wrath  of  the  "lost  leader."t  The  sight  of  these 
things  moved  Louis  of  Nassau  to  expostulate  with 
Egmont ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  the  honest 
words  of  this  "reproving  Nathan"  were  eflectual  in 
curbing  his  merciless  rigor.:}: 

Tournay,  one  of  the  first  of  the  cities  to  gird  up 
its  loins  in  the  iconomachy,  was  one  of  the  last  to 
disarm.  Count  Horn  met  with  manifold  discour- 
agements in  his  efforts  to  restore  order.  Entering 
the  town  at  great  personal  risk,  he  found  six  thou- 
sand citizens  in  armed  possession  of  the  streets; 
while  the  governor,  Maulbais,  with  a  few  sullen  and 
sulky  retainers,  were  cooped  up  in  the  citadel.§ 

Instead  of  taking  up  his  residence  in  the  half- 

<5  Kenom.de  Francia,  MS.     Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  13. 
t  Green  v.  Prinst.,  Archives,  etc.,  torn.  2,  p.  296,  eiseq.    Hoofd, 
torn.  3.  X  Groen  v.  Priust. ,  ubi  sup. 

§  Brandt,  vol.  1.  p.  207. 


THE  REACTION.  413 

starved  castle,  Horn  lodged  with  a  Protestant  mer- 
cliant  in  the  city — a  shrewd,  but  generous  confi- 
dence, which  won  the  good  will  of  the  ^Deople  at  the 
outset,  though  the  papists  complained  bitterly  of  the 
condescension*  Then,  like  Hoogstraaten,  taking 
Orange  as  his  model,  he  strove  to  quiet  Tournay 
by  deahng  justly  with  all  sects.  But  the  reformed 
were  suspicious,  Maulbais  was  crabbed,  and  the 
governant  constantly  intervened  to  thwart  a  fair 
accommodation.  Horn — an  honest,  blunt,  above- 
board  kind  of  man,  with  no  special  gifts  as  a  diplo- 
mat— was  infinitely  fretted  by  the  quibbling,  the 
contradiction,  the  counter-orders  which  met  him  at 
every  step.  Towards  his  goal,  hoAvever,  he  still 
walked,  though  he  went  by  hitches. 

When  the  vacation  of  the  usurped  churches  was 
demanded  of  the  reformed,  they  acceded;  but, 
speaking  through  the  lips  of  Councillor  Tassin,  they 
requested  permission  to  build  chapels  without  the 
city  walls  at  the  town's  expense,  since  at  the  most 
moderate  computation,  two  thirds  of  the  citizens  were 
dissenters ;  notwithstanding  which,  all  the  churches 
erected  for  the  use  of  the  people  were  to  be  surren- 
dered to  the  exclusive  use  of  the  minority.!' 

On  this  point  there  was  a  compromise;  the 
reformed  were  permitted  to  build  meeting-houses 
in  three  spots  beyond  Tournay  gates;  but  their 
demand  upon  the  city  treasury  was  somewhat  heat- 
edly refused,  on  the  ground  that  "Romanists  could 

•-■  Gorresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  toiu.  1,  p.  4GG,  et  seq.  Groen  v. 
Priu.st.,  Archives,  etc.  t  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  21. 


414  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

not  be  expected  to  contribute  towards  the  mainte- 
nance of  heresy,  especially  since  they  had  just  been 
so  exasperated  by  the  image-breaking."* 

After  much  wrangling,  this  agi-eement  was  as- 
sented to,  and  the  duchess  put  upon  it  the  seal  of 
her  acceptance. 

And  now,  for  a  few  short  doys,  the  Netherlands 
reposed  in  the  lap  of  Toleration — a  compulsory  and 
grudging  nurse.  Everywhere  rude  but  substan- 
tial chapels  were  run  up  with  incredible  rapidity. 
Young  and  old,  gentle  and  simple  assisted  in  this 
pious  labor ;  even  women  carried  stones,  and  some- 
times sacrificed  their  jewels  to  accelerate  the  work.t 
In  many  of  the  cities,  the  reformed  did  not  scruj)le 
to  impress  into  the  service  of  their  buildings  the 
shattered  images  and  broken  crucifixes  and  mon- 
umental tablets  of  the  desecrated  cathedrals  of 
Eome.:|:  Great  was  the  scandal  which  this  uuAvise 
procedure  occasioned  among  the  papists,  doubly 
angered  at  the  demolition  of  their  shrines  and  at 
the  heretical  use  to  which  the  consecrated  fraa- 
ments  were  put. 

While  the  grandees,  assisted  by  the  gucux,  were 
thus  actively  successful  in  tranquillizing  the  prov- 
inces, what  was  the  course  of  Margaret?  Two 
words  paint  it — treachery  and  dissimulation.  For 
a  space,  the  frightened  duchess  seemed  bent  upon 
the  honest  enforcement  of  the  accord;  but  as  the 

«  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  21. 

t  Schiller,  p.  19.     Prescott,  vol.  2.  p.  7i. 

X  De  la  Barre,  MS.,  p.  44,  d  seq.     Cited  iu  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  21. 


THE  EEACTION.  41o 

colossus  of  revolt  dwarfed  back  into  peaceful  stat- 
ure, her  courage  rose,  and  she  began  to  meddle  and 
to  prevaricate,  to  question  and  to  undo. 

The  fact  was,  that  the  image-breaking  had  com- 
pletely severed  the  connection,  feeble  at  best,  be- 
tween the  governant  and  the  popular  part3^  From 
that  moment  the  duchess  ceased  to  coquette  witli 
the  patriot  nobles  whom  she  had  pretended  to  favor 
since  the  exile  of  Granvelle.  But  she  v\-as  cautious ; 
for  she  knew  that  tranquilli|y  was  the  desideratum, 
and  she  was  aware  that  that  could  only  be  secured 
by  a  seeming  deference  to  the  opinions  and  the  acts 
of  the  popular  leaders.  This  for  a  time  she  3d  elded, 
though  she  let  no  opportunity  slip  that  could  ena- 
ble her  to  balk  their  purposes  or  to  embarrass  their 
plans. 

At  the  same  time,  the  wily  duchess  began  to 
court  the  long-neglected  partisans  of  the  king — 
Aremberg,  Megen,  Noircarmes,  and  the  rest.  One 
morning  she  sent  for  Viglius.  "  Mr.  President," 
said  she,  when  that  octogenarian  doctor  stood 
before  her,  "  we  have  been  too  long  estranged ;  I 
acknowledge  my  mistake.  Prithee,  give  me  thy 
counsel  once  more."  Viglius  was  surprised ;  but  he 
responded,  "  Madame,  are  you  prepared  to  carry  out 
the  well-known  wishes  of  the  king?"  "Aye,  with 
all  my  heart,"  was  the  reply.  "  Well  then,"  said 
Viglius,  "put  the  same  question  to  each  member  of 
your  cabinet."  The  governant  obeyed,  and  this 
touchstone  revealed  the  unalloyed  loyalty  of  three 
seigneurs — Mansfeld,    Barlaiment,    and   Aerschot. 


416  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

Witli  these  an  alliance  was  extemporized,  and  the 
duohess  again  found  herself  at  the  head  of  a  party 
composed  of  congenial  souls.* 

Another  thing  helped  to  raise  Margaret's  long- 
drooping  courage;  she  had  received  those  letters 
fi'om  Philip  which  placed  money  in  her  hands,  and 
empowered  her  to  recruit  an  army.f  As  usual,  the 
royal  concession  had  come  post  factum ;  but  the 
three  hundred  thousand  florins  were  welcome,  even 
at  the  eleventh  hour. 

The  pupil  of  Loyola  began  to  intrigue.  By 
shrewd  management,  she  obtained  from  Charles 
IX.  of  France  a  proclamation  which  forbade  his 
subjects  to  assist  the  Low  Country  heretics ;  and 
this  was  meant  as  a  menace  to  the  Huguenots, 
whose  sympathy  with  their  provincial  brothers  in 
the  faith  was  notorious.^  Flushed  with  this  suc- 
cess, the  elated  duchess  turned  to  Germany,  at  that 
time  the  recruiting-ground  of  Europe,  and  impor- 
tuned the  emperor  for  armed  aid,  while  she  essayed 
to  unlock  the  hearts  of  the  lesser  Germanic  poten- 
tates with  a  golden  key.  The  Komanists  among 
them  readily  yielded,  and  agreed  to  belt  on  their 
swords;  the  electors  of  Triers  and  Mentz  offering 
free  passage  through  their  territories  to  the  merce- 
nary troopers.§  But  there  were  some  locks  which 
were  not  to  be  picked ;  the  landgrave  of  Hesse  was 
one;  the  duke  of  Wurtemberg  was  another;  and 
the  count  Palatin  was  a  third ;  all  of  whom  refused 

*  This  conversation  is  detailed  in  the  Vita  Viglii,  p.  47. 
+  Ante,  pp.  370,  371.  |  Strada,  p.  13-4.  §  Ibid. 


THE  REACTION.  417 

to  move,  on  account  of  their  Protestantism.*  The 
emperor  liimself  attempted  to  dissuade  Margaret 
from  these  levies,  o£feriug  to  mediate  between  the 
late  insurgents  and  the  throne.f  "No,"  said  Mar- 
garet, "  we  will  make  no  terms  with  an  armed  fac- 
tion without  arms  ourselves."  The  emperor  gave 
way,  and  the  royal  recruiting-masters  plied  their 
trade  without  interference.:}: 

Against  Horn,  Margaret  was  especially  incensed. 
That  seigneur  had  recently  ventured  to  comply  with 
the  demand  of  the  Tournay  reformers  for  permis- 
sion to  meet  within  the  walls  of  their  city,  since 
winter  was  at  hand  and  their  field-chapels  could 
not  be  comi^leted  before  spring,  while  the  frequent 
storms  made  camp-meetings  impossible.§  Horn  re- 
luctantly set  aside  the  Clothiers'  Hall  for  their  use 
until  their  temples  were  finished ;  coupling  the  grant, 
however,  with  a  proviso  that  it  should  be  subject  to 
the  regent's  revocation.il 

When  her  assent  to  this  arrangement  was  asked, 
the  duchess  was  beside  herself  with  rage,  "Never," 
exclaimed  she,  "shall  the  interiolr  of  Tournay  be 
profaned  by  these  heretical  rites."TF  In  the  middle 
of  October,  1566,  Horn  was  recalled  to  Brussels.** 

As  her  confidence  increased,  the  governaut  made 
greater  efforts  to  retrace  the  humiliating  path  up 
which  circumstances  had  led  her.    She  did  not  ven- 

*  Strada,  p.  134.  +  Ibid.,  p.  133. 

J  Ibid.     Hopper,  Eec.  et  Mem. 
§  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  21.     De  la  Barre,  MS. 
II  Ibid.,  Frappeu's  Snjiplemcut,  torn.  2,  p.  40G. 
II  Frai^peii,  uhi  sup.,  p.  499,  et  seq.  •*  Ibid. 

18* 


418  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

ture  to  revoke  the  accord  ;  but  she  defined  it  so  nar- 
rowly that  it  became  that  "letter  of  the  law  which 
killeth."  For  instance,  the  essence  of  the  com- 
pact of  the  25tli  of  August  was,  that  the  preaching 
of  the  reformed  religion  should  be  tolerated  wher- 
ever it  had  been  established  previously  to  that  date. 
Yet  now  this  was  construed  not  to  cover  the  per- 
formance of  such  rites  as  baptism,  marriage,  and 
burial — the  necessary  concomitants  of  preaching.* 
In  this  same  autumn  of  15G6,  she  fulminated  an 
edict,  reciting  the  terrible  penalties  of  the  law 
against  all  offenders  in  this  way ;  and  this  unscru- 
pulous paper  she  formally  commanded  the  author- 
ities to  euforce.t 

Orange  was  indignant  at  this  juggling,  and  he 
loudly  complained  of  it,  as  also  of  the  efforts  of  the 
regent  to  undermine  his  character  at  Madrid. 'J:  The 
duchess  endeavored  to  mollify  him.  She  specially 
commissioned  Assouleville  to  assure  her  "cousin  of 
Orange"  that  "she  had  always  loved  and  honored 
him  as  her  good  son ;"  and  at  the  same  time  she 
wrote  Hoogstraalen  in  a  similar  siren  strain. §  But 
the  long-headed  prince  was  not  to  be  hoodwinked. 
"  Madame,"  retorted  he,  "  I  am  not  so  frivolous  as 
to  believe  in  your  having  used  language  to  my  dis- 
credit, without  being  certain  of  the  fact — as  I  shall 
shortly  prove  by  evidence."!! 

*  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  96.    Strada.  f  Strada. 

I  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  54. 

§  La  Defense  du  Comte  de  Hocstrate,  p.  91. 

II  Cor.  de  Gnillaume  le  Taciturne,  torn.  2,  p.  233,  et  seq. 


THE  REACTION.  410 

At  bottom,  Orange  cared  little  for  the  estrange- 
ment of  the  duchess ;  he  expected  it,  for  he  knew 
the  radical  differences  which  divided  them.  Still 
he  would  not  permit  Margaret  to  believe  that  she 
could  cheat  him.  Horn  also  viewed  this  coolness 
with  sullen  indifference.  It  was  Egmont,  who  could 
only  live  in  the  sunshine  of  the  court,  that  took  this 
exclusion  from  the  royal  confidence  most  to  heart. 
"  They  tell  me,"  wrote  Morillon  to  Granvelle,  "  that 
it  is  quite  incredible  how  old  and  gray  Egmont  has 
become."* 

Of  course,  this  whole  momentous  chapter  of 
events  had  been  closely  read  by  Philip.  Accounts 
of  the  image-breaking  had  reached  Madrid  with  the 
usual  expedition  of  evil  news — that  fastest  of  all 
travellers.  The  tidings  found  the  king  stretched 
upon  a  tertian-fever  bed  at  his  Segovian  retreat ; 
but,  if  we  may  credit  Morillon,  rage  proved  strongei* 
than  disease,  and  losing  for  once  his  habitual  self- 
command,  he  leaped  from  his  couch,  and  tearing 
his  beard  in  a  paroxysm  of  frenzy,  cried,  "  It  shall, 
cost  them  dear :  by  the  soul  of  my  father  I  swear 
it — it  shall  cost  them  dear."t 

Soon,  however^  regaining  the  reins  of  his  tem- 
per, he  curbed  its  expression,  determined  to  let 
deeds  speak  for  him.  Never  again  was  his  serenity 
disturbed,  though  his  eyes  devoured  letter  after  let- 
ter full  of  the  details  of  the  iconomachy.  Indeed, 
more  potent  than  the  royal'  leeches,  the  news  seem- 

'<^  Archives  de  la  Maisou  d'Orange-Nassan,  Siipplcuicut,  p.  3(J. 
t  Gaoliartl,  Aualectes  Bclgiqncs,  p.  2.j'l. 


420  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

ed  to  shock  liim  into  health  ;  and  though  enfeebled 
by  the  sickness,  he  at  once  summoned  his  council- 
lors to  convene,  attending  personally  upon  their 
discussions  :  so  superior  is  the  spirit  to  the  weak- 
nesses of  the  body.* 

Prejudice  is  the  most  plausible  of  special  plead- 
ers. The  Castilian  ministers  assembled  at  Segovia 
imagining  that  the  image-breaking  was  a  national 
act ;  and  in  their  investigations  they  scanned  the 
facts  fi-om  the  standpoint  of  that  belief,  twisted  the 
evidence  into  that  meaning.  They  held  the  icono- 
clasts to  have  been  the  mere  tools  of  abler  rogues  : 
they  were  moved  by  the  sectaries ;  the  sectaries 
were  inspired  by  the  gueux;  the  gueux  were  the 
creatures  of  the  leading  seigneurs  —  Orange,  Eg- 
mout,  Horn.f  Thus  all  were  branded  as  guilty, 
while  the  chief  responsibility  was  strapped  upon  the 
shoulders  of  the  men  who  had  been  most  instru- 
mental in  evoking  order  out  of  chaos. 

In  this  the  advisers  of  the  king  were  agreed; 
but  when  they  came  to  discuss  the  policy  to  be 
adopted,  there  Avere  two  opinions  at  the  council- 
board.  There  were  still,  as  at  PhiHp's  accession,! 
two  rivals  in  the  royal  favor — Euy  Gomez  prince 
of  Eboli,  and  the  duke  of  Alva.  No  two  characters 
could  be  more  antipodal  in  disposition,  habit,  inter- 
est. Eboli  was  a  man  of  peace ;  Alva  was  a  man 
of  war.  Eboli  Avas  pacific  and  temporizing,  and 
these  were  the  arts  by  which  he  had  acquired  influ- 

*  Hopper,  Eec.  et  Mem.,  p.  lO'Jl. 

t  ILii'l-  %  Ante,  p.  14:9. 


THE  REACTION.  421 

ence ;  Alva  was  ferocious  and  uncompromising,  and 
these  were  the  means  by  which  he  had  become  a 
power  in  the  state.  Eboli,  true  to  his  character 
and  also  to  his  policy — for  commotion  was  his 
rival's  element,  and  in  it  he  was  ruler — was  ever  the 
advocate  of  mildness  and  delay.  Alva,  true  to  his 
character  and  also  to  his  policy — for  in  a  calm  his 
rival  was  supreme — always  counselled  vengeance 
and  expedition.  "  Thus  it  is,"  philosophizes  Strada, 
"  that  most  men  form  their  opinions ;  and  the  vote 
which  nature  extorts,  we  think  is  given  to  the  cause, 
when  indeed  we  give  it  to  our  humor."* 

These  councillors  of  opposite  ideas  were  now 
wrangling  in  Philip's  presence.  Eboli  urged  his 
master  to  set  out  in  person  for  the  Netherlands,  not 
in  warlike  panoply,  but  accompanied  only  by  such 
a  retinue  as  should  look  down  opposition  and  befit 
the  royal  dignity.  Alva  made  no  objection  to  the 
king's  departure,  but  clamored  for  the  equipment 
of  an  arm}^  which  should  be  empowered  to  chastise 
the  states. 

Evidently  Alva  was  a  surgeon  of  the  heroic 
school,  t 

Usually,  the  procrastinating  and  tortuous  policy 
of  Eboli  was  that  most  congenial  to  the  kindred 
soul  of  Philip ;  but  now  his  dark  and  sullen  temper 
was  in  arms,  and  he  panted,  for  revenge.  There- 
fore Alva's  advice  was  taken;  the  king  decided  to 

*  strada,  vol.  2,  p.  23. 

f  Ibid.,  d  seq.     Braudt,  vol.  1,  pp.  2G0,  2GL 


422  THE  DUTCH  REFOKMATION. 

equip  au  army  for  tlie  subjugation  of  the  provinces, 
and  the  iron  duke  was  himself  selected  to  head  the 
crusade.* 

However,  he  infused  into  this  policy  something 
of  his  own  spirit,  for  he  insisted  upon  keeping  the 
decision  secret.f  He  preferred  to  advance  by  crook- 
ed ways,  even  when  straight  ones  were  the  best. 
He  mistook  dissimulation  'for  diplomacy.  The 
throat  of  the  provinces  was  to  be  cut,  but  the  poli- 
tic assassin  meant  to  steal  in  on  tiptoe  and  creep 
round  behind.  In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  the  ac- 
cepted advice  of  Alva  was  hidden  behind  the  scenes, 
while  before  the  footlights  Philip  played  the  part 
of  a  benignant  pacificator.  Not  before  the  spring 
of  1567  could  the  arrangements  for  the  invasion  of 
the  Netherlands  be  completed;  it  was  necessary  to 
bridge  over  six  months  with  treachery. 

Accordingly,  Alva  was  sent  to  Paris,  ostensibly 
as  the  Spanish  ambassador,  but  really  for  the  pur- 
pose of  persuading  Catharine  de'  Medici  to  open 
a  path  through  France  for  Philip's  avengers  of  the 
faith.  J  The  king  himself  began  to  make  noisy  prep- 
arations for  his  supposititious  voyage  to  the  states — 
long  promised,  much  derided,  never  credited.  But 
nov/  the  laughers  were  cheated  into  the  belief  that 
this  time  his  majesty  was  in  earnest,  so  formal  was 
his  haste,  so  profuse  were  his  arrangements  for  a 
speedy  departure.  Nevertheless,  the  biographer  of 
the  Farneses  avers  that   this  Avas  but  a  cleverly 

•~-  Stradii,  vol.  2,  p.  23.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  pp.  2(J0,  2!;i. 

f  Strada,  nhi  sup.  I  Strada. 


THE  REACTION.  42:] 

enacted  comeclj^  uot  serious  at  the  bottom.*  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  the  voyage  of  the  royal  actor  must  be 
set  down  in  continuation  of  D'Israeli's  chapter  of 
"  Events  that  never  took  Phice." 

While  his  cozened  lacqueys  were  busied  in  pack- 
ing trunks  which  they  were  for  ever  destined,  on 
one  pretext  or  another,  to  unpack  again,  Philip  was 
in  active  correspondence  with  madame  of  Parma.' 
She  also  was  his  dupe,  for  she  devoutly  believed  in 
the  certainty  of  the  king's  speedy  arrival  at  Brus- 
sels, and  constantly  proclaimed  it.t    • 

In  the  autumn  of  1566,  Philip  addressed  two 
letters  to  Margaret.  In  the  first  of  these,  which 
was  meant  to  be  made  public,  he  announced  his 
own  restoration  to  health  and  the  birth  of  an  infan- 
ta, closing  with  the  affirmation  of  his  purpose  to 
set  out  for  the  states  at  an  early  day,  and  with  the 
assertion  of  "  his  intention  to  treat  his  subjects  like 
a  good  and  clement  prince,  not  to  ruin  them  by  redu- 
cing them  into  servitude."  "  I  shall  exercise  only 
humanity,  sweetness,  and  grace,  avoiding  all  harsh- 
ness,"! said  his  Machiavellian  majesty  King  Philip 
II.,  who  had  already  proscribed  the  whole  nation. 
In  the  other  note,  which  was  private,  he  urged  the 
governant  to  strain  every  nerve  in  the  enrolment 
of  the  German  levies,  and  to  let  slip  no  opportunity 
to  effect  the  dissolution  of  the  cjueux ;  and  for  this 
purpose  he  sent  her  a  batch  of  letters,  overflowing 
with  kind  expressions  and  artful  flattery,  to  distri- 

«  Strada.  t  H^i'^^- 

\  Corresp.  dc  ilarg.  d'Autiielu'.  p.  '20  i. 


424  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

bute  among  tlie  leaguers  as  she  deemed  best.*  Not 
one  allusion  did  lie  make  to  the  accord;  he  dared 
not,  at  present,  annul  it;  and  he  Avas  still  less  dis- 
posed to  acknowledge  its  validity  ;  so  he  obeyed  the 
English  statesman's  rule,  and  when  he  had  nothing 
to  say,  he  said  nothing.f 

Margaret  received  these  despatches  but  to  credit 
nnd  obey  them.  She  was  already  doing  her  utmost 
to  recruit  an  army;  she  was  determined  to  break  up 
the  union  of  les  gueux.  In  this  work,  circumstances 
were  her  allies.  The  country  had  outgrown  the 
league.  Internal  dissensions  had  enfeebled  it.  At 
St.  Trond  many  of  the  Romanists  had  shaken  off 
the  dust  from  their  feet  against  it.  The  iconoma- 
chy  had  wholly  robbed  it  of  ultramontauist  support. 
The  conduct  of  the  leaguers  in  siding  with  the  court 
against  the  image-breakers  had  deprived  it  also  of 
the  confidence  of  the  sectaries. |  Thus  undermined 
with  both  parties,  it  was  sure  to  fall  an  easy  prey  to 
the  snares  of  the  "'overnant. 

And  it  must  be  confessed  that  Margaret  played 
her  game  shrewdly.  She  made  brave  use  of  the 
royal  letters.  They  were  directed  with  an  apj^ear- 
ance  of  jn'ofound  secrecy  to  a  variety  of  individuals, 
and  then  made  to  miscarry,  so  as  to  fall  into  the 
wrong  hands.  In  this  way  the  seeds  of  distrust 
were  quickly  sown.  Many  of  the  confederates  be- 
gan to  doubt  the  honesty  of  those  of  their  brothers 

*  Cor.  de  Marg.  d'Autricbe,  p.  20G.     Schiller,  p.  18. 

f  Scliiller,  uhl  sup. 

X  Vide  Relatione  di  M.  H.  Tiepalo,  MS.,  15G7. 


THE  BEACTION.  425 

to  whom  sucli  brilliant  offers  were  made ;  and  those 
who  had  received  no  such  promises  commenced  to 
importune  the  duchess  for  pardon.  A  scrub-race 
for  court  favor  ensued.  A  general  rumor  of  the 
impending  visit  of  the  king  made  those  who  knew 
that  his  presence  would  augur  no  good  to  them  all 
the  more  eager  to  accept  what  conditions  they  could 
get.  A  brief  campaign  completely  discomfited  the 
league,  and  madame  rested  on  her  laurels,  confident 
that  it  was  definitively  broken  as  a  nucleus  of  politi- 
cal oifence.""  A  few  of  its  members,  like  Brederode, 
and  Louis  of  Nassau,  and  St.  Aldegonde,  were  still 
untamed ;  but  these  were  powerless,  for  they  were 
robbed  of  prestige. 

Margaret  next  essayed  to  lasso  the  seigneurs  to 
her  feet.  Egmont  was  brought  to  the  ground ;  but 
Hoogstraaten  and  Horn  and  Orange  were  too  wary 
to  be  caught. 

The  prince  was  perfectly  famihar  with  the  whole 
programme  which  had  been  decided  on  at  Madrid ; 
his  eyes  had  scanned  the  book  which  Philip  thought 
that  he  had  sealed.  By  a  system  of  espionage  sin- 
gularly perfect,  he  held  all  Europe  under  surveill- 
ance, and  could  fix  his  eye  at  pleasure  on  tlie  most 
distant  courts,  or  so  place  his  ear  that  it  should 
catch  the  faintest  whispered  secrets  of  the  Spanish 
despot.t  Doubtless,  there  was  no  high  morality  in 
the  employment  of  these  Protean  pryers  into  the 
most  secret  consultations  and  resolutions  of  crowned 

«  Groen  v.  Prinst.,  Archives,  etc.,  torn.  2,  p.  282.  Tiepalo,  ut 
antea.,  f  Prcscott,  vol.  2,  p.  84.    Stiuda. 


426  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

heads  —  eaves-droppers  and  disguises,  the  sum  of 
whose  life  was  to  know  and  not  to  be  known ;  but 
the  use  of  spies  was  a  part  of  the  machinery  of 
diplomacy  in  the  sixteenth  century.  William  had 
acquired  the  art  in  the  school  of  Machiavelli.  It 
was  the  intelligence  thus  gained  which  enabled  him 
to  fathom  the  dark  depths  of  the  policy  of  the  most 
tortuous  of  kings.  Without  this  intelligence  he 
would  have  groped  in  the  gloom — there  would  have 
been  no  equality  in  his  struggle  with  the  royal  in- 
quisitor. And  this  may  be  said  for  him,  that  while 
Philip  spied  for  despotism,  lie  spied  to  secure  the 
liberation  of  his  country. 

Just  now  William's  spies  were  unusually  busy. 
These  ubiquitous  agents  of  his  secret  service  con- 
stantly forwarded  to  him  copies,  and  sometimes  the 
originals  of  Margaret's  private  letters  to  the  king, 
together  with  extracts  from  the  minutes  of  the  royal 
cabinet.  From  time  to  time,  the  pilfered  papers 
were  made  public;  the  governant  was  astounded  to 
learn  that  manuscripts  weighty  with  state  secrets, 
which  she  imagined  safely  buried  in  the  hidden 
recesses  of  the  king's  escritoire,  were  passed  from 
hand  to  hand  by  the  gaping  burghers  of  her  own 
capitaL  "  Sire,"  complained  she  to  Philip,  "  the 
contents  of  my  despatches  are  known  in  JFlanders 
almost  as  soon  as  at  Madrid ;  and  not  only  copies, 
but  the  original  autographs  circulate  in  Brussels. 
Be  pleased  to  burn  my  letters  after  reading  them,  if 
you  cannot  keep  them  without  danger.""- 

*  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  474.  * 


THE  REACTION.  427 

The  naivete  of  the  king's  reply  is  hiughable. 
"  This  of  which  you  complain  is  impossible.  I 
always  keep  my  papers  locked,  and  tlie  key  lies  in 
my  pocket."*  The  idea  seemed  not  to  occur  to  this 
man,  who  was  rather  the  chief  of  a  bureau  of  secret 
police  than  a  monarch,  that  the  arts  which  he  prac- 
tised upon  others,  might  possibly  by  others  be  prac- 
tised upon  him.  But  they  were.  "Men  of  leisure," 
affirmed  Orange,  "may  occupy  themselves  in  philo- 
sophical pursuits,  and  with  the  secrets  of  nature; 
as  for  me,  it  is  my  business  to  study  the  hearts  of 
kings."t 

Made  .aware  by  this  "  study  "  of  what  was  in 
Philip's  heart,  and  conscious  of  the  imminent  peril 
in  which  the  Netherlands  stood.  Orange  was  anx- 
ious to  concert  some  plan  of  resistance.  Feeling 
that  the  hour  for  action  had  dawned,  he  sent  a  pri- 
vate courier  to  acquaint  Egmont  with  the  impend- 
ing danger,  proposing,  with  his  cooperation  and  with 
that  of  Horn,  to  convene  the  states-general,  and  if 
the  national  representatives  j)roved  propitious,  to 
risk  preparations  against  Alva's  coming  raid.J 

On  the  3d  of  October,  1566,  before  an  answer  to 
this  proposal  could  be  received.  Orange,  Egmont, 
Horn,  Louis  of  Nassau,  and  Hoogstraaten  met  at 
Dendermonde  in  Flanders,  to  chat  over  what  had 
best  be  done,  in  person.§     Here  two  important  let- 

"''  Corresp.  cle  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1.  p.  491. 

f  Strada.     Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  41. 

X  Green  v.  Prinst.,  Arcliive.s,  etc.,  torn.  2,  p.  326. 

§  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  134.    Cor.  do  Ginllanmc  le  Tacit.,  torn.  2. 


428  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

ters  were  read  and  considered.  One  was  from  Mon- 
tigny,  the  Netherland  envoy,  held  in  duress  at  Ma- 
drid. Addressing  his  brother-in-laAv,  Count  Horn, 
he  wrote :  "  Nothing  can  be  in  worse  odor  than  are 
our  affairs  at  the  court  of  Castile.  The  great  lords 
in  particular  are  considered  the  source  of  all  the 
mischief.  Violent  counsels  are  altogether  in  the 
ascendant,  and  the  storm  may  burst  upon  yon  soon- 
er than  you  think.  Nothing  remains  but  to  fly 
from  it  prudently,  or  to  face  it  bravely.'"'"  The 
other  was  an  intercepted  letter  from  Alva,  then  in 
France,  to  the  duchess  of  Parma.  The  duke  gave 
a  circumstantial  account  of  the  approadjing  inva- 
sion of  the  provinces,  for  which  purpose  the  king- 
was  busily  levying  an  army,  asserted  that  the  seign- 
eurs were  marked  out  for  heavy  punishment,  and 
cautioned  Margaret  in  the  meantime  so  to  regulate 
her  deportment  as  to  persuade  all  that  the  past  had 
been  forgiven  and  forgotten.t 

"  Now,  gentlemen,"  queried  Orange,  "  with  these 
facts  before  us,  what  ought  we  to  do  ?" 

"  I  counsel  an  immediate  appeal  to  arms,"  cried 
Louis  of  Nassau.  "  At  all  risks,  the  king  should 
never  be  permitted  to  dragoon  the  country  into  ser- 
vitude." "I  say  amen  to  that,"  said  Hoogstraaten. 
Horn  was  silent.  Egmont  repudiated  the  idea  of  re- 
volt, and  his  emphatic  protest  broke  up  the  confer- 
ence. Orange  did  not  pronounce  himself,  for  he 
knew  that  Egmont's  popularity  and  military  prestige 
made  his  cooperation  essential  to  the  success  of  any 
•  Bentivoglio,  p.  118.  f  Cor.  de  Phil.  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  485. 


THE  REACTION.  420 

scheme  of  armed  resistance.  A  feast  closed  this 
interview ;  after  which  the  seigneurs  mounted  horse 
and  separated — separated  in  both  senses,  for  the 
old  community  of  interest  was  lost.* 

Had  the  Dendermonde  meeting  resulted,  as 
Orange  meant  it  should,  in  a  firm  coalition  against 
Philij),  the  history  of  a  decade  v/ould  have  been 
differently  written.  That  it  did  not  so  eventuate, 
was  the  fault  of  Egmont.f  The  count  was  a  brill- 
iant cavalry  officer — the  Mui-at  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury— but  he  utterly  lacked  prevision,  while  his  van- 
ity was  so  great  that  he  would  not  credit  those 
whose  sight  was  keener.  Besides,  he  was  a  cour- 
tier by  nature,  and  he  felt  the  incongruity  of  his 
recent  position  as  a  liberal  leader — a  position  into 
which  circumstances,  acting  upon  an  impulsive  and 
sympathetic  nature,  had  drifted  him.  His  con- 
science acquitted  him  of  any  purpose  to  wrong  the 
king ;  and  judging  Philip  by  himself,  he  felt  sure 
of  having  won  the  royal  forgiveness  for  what  venial 
sins  he  had  committed,  by  his  honest  conduct  in 
restoring  order.  He  was  not  the  stuff  of  which  rev- 
olutionists are  made,  for  he  was  terrified  by  words, 
and  he  was  turned  from  his  purpose  by  a  glance  at 
his  family.  He  had  feelings,  not  principles.  Ho 
was  unduly  anxious  about  appearances ;  belonged 
to  that  class  of  whom  Wendell  Phillips  has  said, 

»  Bentivoglio,  pp.  123-128.    Bor.,  torn.  2,  p.  108.     Hoofd,  torn. 
3,  p.  114. 

.  f  Horn,  in  his  "Justification,"  refers  the  faihire  to  Egmont. 
Vitle  Proces  de  Home,  Frappen's  Supi:)lement. 


430  THE  DUTCH   REFOEMATION. 

"  tliej  creep  '  prudently '  iuto  nameless  graves,  while 
higher  spirits. forget  themselves  into  immortality." 
He  had  none  of  the  unconsciousness  of  greatness 
which  will  not  let  the  heart  turn  to  examine  the 
crimson  of  its  own  currents.  So  Egmont  shook 
hands  with  Orange,  meaning  henceforth  to  "smother 
his  prejudices,"'  and  like  the  jockeys  at  Epsom,  to 
sweat  down  the  truth  till  it  could  ride  equal  weight 
with  any  rascal.  Still,  with  all  his  credulity,  Alva's 
letter  somewhat  disturbed  him,  and  on  reaching 
Brussels  he  showed  a  copy  of  it  to  the  governant. 
Margaret  was  surprised,  but  Egmont  did  not  fright 
her  confidence  into  a  blush ;  she  pronounced  the  epis- 
tle to  be  a  forgery.*  The  count  was  not  convinced 
of  her  sincerit}'.  "  This  is  a  woman  educated  at 
Kome,"  said  he;  "there  is  no  faith  to  be  given 
her."t  Happy  would  it  have  been  for  Egmont  had 
he  held  to  that  belief. 

Horn  did  not  commit  himself  at  Dendermonde  ;X 
but  it  is  probable  that,  had  Egmont  pronounced 
for  war,  no  objections  would  have  come  from  him. 
However,  as  affairs  had  turned  out,  his  hands  were 
left  clean  of  any  thing  which  smelt  of  treason — if 
any  attempt  to  protect  the  ancient,  well-understood, 
and  chartered  privileges  of  the  Netherlands  against 
a  forsworn  foreign  despot  may  be  so  designated. 
But  Horn  was  sour  and  moody.  Of  a  proud  and 
ambitious  temper,  his  pride  had  been  outraged,  and 
his  ambition  had  been  thwarted  with  pertinacious 

*  Archives  de  la  Maison  d'Orange-Nassau,  torn.  2,  p.  400,  et  seq. 
t  Ibid.  X  Proces  de  Home,  in  Fiappen's  Supplement 


THE  REACTION.  431 

malignity  by  a  court  iu  wliosc  service  lie  liad  grown 
gray.  He  had  spent  four  hundred  thousand  florins 
in  the  royal  service  without  recompense,  although 
it  was  well  known  that  this  expenditure  had  obliged 
him  to  pawn  his  massive  family-plate,  and  had  cov- 
ered his  estates  ten  feet  deep  Avith  mortgages.* 
This  was  but  one  of  many  griefs ;  and  recently,  to 
the  sum  total  of  his  discontent,  the  shabby  treat- 
ment, the  unscrupulous  calumniation  with  which 
Margaret  rewarded  efforts  which  averted  the  "  Sicil- 
ian vespers"  from  Tournay  had  been  added.t 

"Wrathful  and  ruined,  Horn  determined  no  longer 
to  serve  a  perfidious  court.  In  a  letter  which  he 
now  wrote  to  Philip,  he  resigned  his  honors,  and 
after  reciting  the  indignities  which  had  driven  him 
to  take  this  step,  added:  "  It  is  not  the  regent,  but 
your  majesty,  of  whom  I  complain;  for  it  is  you, 
sire,  who  have  compelled  me  to  dance  attendance 
at  the  court  of  Brussels.  Henceforth  I  shall  not 
discuss  my  conduct  with,  the  duchess,  for  it  is  not 
my  way  to  treat  of  affairs  of  honor  with  ladies.":!: 

Having  unwittingly  dug  his  grave  with  these 
plain-dealing  words — for  to-morrow  is  a  fog  into 
which  no  one  can  see — Horn  retired  to  his  mort- 
gaged "growlery"  at  Weert,  severed  his  connection 
with  all  parties,  and  like  Diogenes,  asked  only  a 
fee  simple  of  the  sunshine. §     "  Well,"  said  he,  "  I 

*  Reuom.  de  Fraucia,  MS.     Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  37. 

t  Bnd. 

X  Frappen's  Supplement,  toin.  2,  p.  501,  et  seq. 

§  Ibid.     Vide  Proces  dc  Home. 


432  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

can  turn  hermit  for  the  rest  of  my  days,  as  well  as 
the  emperor  Charles."* 

The  obstinate  credulity  of  Egmont  and  the  sul- 
len retirement  of  Horn  left  Orange  isolated  at  this 
critical  hour — robbed  him  of  his  most  prominent 
supporters ;  for  though  Hoogstraaten  and  Louis  of 
Nassau  and  St.  Aldegonde  were  devoted,  they  had 
not  the  influence  in  the  land  Avhich  the  recusant 
seigneurs  possessed.  Nothing  remained  but  to  wait 
and  watch.  Retiring  into  the  north,  he  paused  at 
Utrecht.  Here  he  addressed  a  pamphlet  to  the 
authorities  of  the  province,  in  which  he  urged  the 
necessity  of  religious  toleration,  as  demanded  by 
Christian  charity,  by  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  by 
the  policy  of  cosmopolite  states,  inhabited  by  sects 
of  all  denominations ;  and  he  concluded  by  recom- 
mending that  a  petition  of  this  tenor  be  laid  before 
the  throne;  not  probablj^  from  any  belief  that  it 
would  be  heeded  by  Philip,  but  from  the  effect  it 
would  have  in  strengthening  the  principles  of  eccle- 
siastical freedom  in  the  minds  of  his  fellow-coun- 

trymen.t 

This  x>aper,  which  was  ably  and  strikingly  ar- 
gued, marked  an  epoch  in  William's  life,  for  it  was 
his  first  written  offering  to  the  spirit  of  Christianity 
since  his  conversion  to  the  religious  tenets  of  the 
Reformation.  In  a  letter  to  the  landgrave  of  Hesse, 
in  November,  1566,  he  announced  this  momentous 

-  Frapijeu,  uU  su}:).,  p.  506. 

f  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  73.  Archives  et  Correspondance,  torn.  2, 
pp.  430,  431. 


THE  KEACTION.  43:] 

change  in  liis  creed.*  Doubtless  the  principles 
planted  in  his  infant  heart  by  his  pions  jiarents  at 
the  old  Dillenberg  castle,  and  the  seeds  of  doubt 
sown  by  recent  events  in  the  Netherlands,  combined 
to  flower  iuto  Protestantism  in  his  mind.  The  im- 
pressions of  childhood  are  proverbially  lasting ;  and 
the  ashes  of  the  countless  innocents,  martyred  for 
no  crime  but  that  of  dissent  from  Rome,  spoke 
trumpet-toned  to  thoughtful  and  enlightened  souls. 
William  saw  the  ligament  which  united  the  Siamese 
twins  of  Rome  and  Sjiain — the  Chcmg  of  the  Vati- 
can to  the  Eng  of  Madrid.  Then  too  his  family — 
his  aged  mother,  still  alive,  his  brothers,  his  sisters, 
his  wife,  were  of  the  reformed  faith.  Thus  the  ties 
of  kindred,  every  pulsation  of  his  patriotic  heart, 
the  manifold  influences  of  the  time,  moved  the  tru- 
ant prince  to  face  Zionward.  Now  that  he  had 
done  so,  another  link  was  forged  in  the  chain  which 
wedded  him  to  the  liberal  party  of  the  provinces. 

The  reformed  had  taken  advantage  of  the  inter- 
val of  quiet  which  succeeded  the  iconomachy,  to 
methodize  the  formulas  of  their  worship,  hitherto 
somewhat  loose  and  unsettled.  In  many  of  the  cit- 
ies consistories — a  kind  of  sabred  parliament,  com- 
posed of  ecclesiastical  senators  and  magistrates — 
were  instituted ;  and  these  were  subordinated  to  a 
controlling  assembly,  which  sat  at  Antwerp.!  Thus 
the  republic  of  religion  was  reduced  to  order,  in 

•-'  Prescott,  Tol.  2,  p.  93.     Dumout,  Corps  Diplomatique,  torn. 
5,  part  1,  p.  392, 

t  Strada,  p.  138.     Brandt. 

Tintcli  ncr.  2Q 


434  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

obedience  to  heaven's  first  law,  and  provided  with 
a  mouth-piece  through  which  its  wishes  might  find 
utterance. 

But,  unhappily,  the  Protestants  of  that  day  did 
not  com^Drehend  the  golden  rule  of  modern  Chris- 
tian fellowship — fraternization  in  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  gospel,  charity  in  all  besides.  In 
the  Low  Countries,  sects  at  absolute  agreement  on 
vital  tenets  waged  bitter,  war  on  minor  points  of 
faith ;  a  fact  prophetical  of  ruin  when  the  common 
enemy  was  in  the  field.*  In  Germany,  the  princes 
were  Lutherans ;  in  the  provinces,  the  Calvinists 
were  the  dominant  denomination.  They  were  at 
open  feud.  From  time  to  time  good  men  essayed 
to  bring  about  a  truce,  but  in  the  main,  their  efforts 
were  without  success.f 

Under  these  circumstances,  each  sect  was  left  to 
shift  for  itself,  sole  guardian  of  its  interests.  At 
Antwerp,  the  reformed  endeavored  to  buy  toleration. 
Through  Hoogstraaten,  they  sent  a  petition  to  Mar- 
garet, offering  to  pay  three  hundred  thousand  flor- 
ins into  the  royal  treasury,  if  only  they  might  be 
guaranteed  immunity  of  worship.  But  now  at  Brus- 
sels, as  always  at  Madrid,  there  was  one  passion 
yet  stronger  than  avarice,  and  that  was  bigotry. 
The  disdainful  court  would  vouchsafe  no  answer  to 
the  memorial.:]: 

Margaret  was  now  occupied  day  and  night  in  the 

«  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  94.     Hoofd,  torn.  3. 

f  Strada,  p.   138.     Archives  de  la  Maison  d'Orauge-Nassau, 
torn.  2,  p.  455.  |  Strada,  p.  140. 


THE  REACTION.  433 

*' study  of  revenge."*  Feeling  that  her  star  was 
once  more  in  the  ascendant,  she  lost  the  humility 
that  had  characterized  her  actions  while  the  image- 
breakers  were  abroad.  The  divisions  of  the  foes, 
the  jingling  of  PhiliiD's  gold,  the  sight  of  her  recruits, 
all  combined  to  elate  her,  "  Now,"  said  she,  "  I  am 
strong  enough  to  work  my  wall;"  and  immediately 
this  woman,  who  already  knew  all  the  points  in  the 
compass  of  deceit,  began  to  add  to  that  knowledge 
the  maxims  of  a  bolder  roguery.  She  sent  Duke 
Eric,  of  Brunswick,  into  Holland  at  the  head  of  an 
armed  force.f  She  formally  revoked  the  accord.^ 
She  kept  Egmont  busy  in  forcing  the  cities  of  Flan- 
ders and  Artois  to  receive  her  mercenary  garri- 
sons.§  Not  under  the  imperial  sceptre  of  Charles 
V.  had  such  bold  stretches  of  arbitrary  power  been 
hazarded. 

Great  was  the  excitement  which  this  conduct 
caused,  and  it  provoked  an  ill-regulated,  spasmodic, 
fragmentary  resistance :  foredoomed  to  an  unhappy 
end  by  the  apostacy  of  Egmont,  who  was  viciously 
active  against  his  old  companions ;  by  the  neutral- 
ity of  Horn,  who  could  not  be  coaxed  to  leave  his 
lair ;  and  by  the  prudence  of  Orange,  who  stood 
aloof  because  he  saw  that  the  Netherlands,  para- 
lyzed by  division,  were  not  yet  ready  for  a  national 
rising,  the  only  one  which  could  be  efficient.     The 

•  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  496. 
t  Groen  V.  Priust.,  Ai'chives^tc. ,  torn.  2,  pp.  322-32G. 
J  Corresp.  de  Guillaume  le  Tacit.,  torn.  2,  ]).  351,  et  seq. 
§  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  44. 


436  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

cities  were  the  first  to  protest ;  tliose  of  Hainault 
were  especially  out-spoken  in  their  determination 
not  to  open  their  gates  for  the  reception  of  the 
hated  mercenaries.*  Horn  had  been  succeeded  in 
the  stadtholderate  of  that  province  by  Philip  de 
Noircarmes,  a  courtier  by  profession  and  a  butcher 
from  instinct.f  This  personage  had  a  peculiar 
aptitude  for  making  bad  matters  worse,  as  he 
soon  made  manifest.  Abandoning  the  policy  of 
justice,  which  his  honest  predecessor  had  inau- 
gurated, he  embraced  the  more  congenial  methods 
of  trickery  and  violence  in  his  dealings  with  the 
reformed. 

Noircarmes,  in  common  with  Aremberg,  Aer- 
schot,  Megen,  and  Egmont,  had  been  ordered  to 
hunt  up  or  invent  pretexts  for  the  introduction  of 
garrisons  into  all  places  suspected  of  favoring  the 
new  doctrines.:]:  It  was  work  to  his  taste.  On  the 
21st  of  November,  1566,  he  galloped  across  the 
country  to  Valenciennes  at  the  head  of  an  unusu- 
ally strong  cavalcade,  and  pausing  before  the  city 
gates,  summoned  the  citizens  to  receive  a  garrison 
as  a  punishment  for  their  flagitious  conduct  in  cele- 
brating the  Lord's  Supper  within  the  corporate 
limits.§  The  cautious  burghers  asked  time  for  con- 
sideration ;  whereupon  Noircarmes  fired  a  volley  of 
oaths  into  their  faces,  and  rode  off,  protesting  that 

«  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  97.    Braudt,  vol.  1,  p.  207. 

t  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  73.  ♦ 

:j:  Prescott,  ubl  sup.     Eenom.  de  Fraucia,  MS.     Hoofd,  torn.  3. 

§  l^.randt,  rthi  sup. 


THE  REACTION.  437 

they  would  have  themselves  to  blame  for  whatever 
mischief  might  befall  them.* 

The  townsfolk  at  once  met  at  the  stadthoiise  in 
anxious  consultation.     The  magistrates  urged  com- 
pliance with  the  regent's  requisition  ;  but  "  the  peo- 
ple, whose  ears  were  chained  to  the  tongues  of  tlieir 
preachers,"  on  being  informed  by  those  eminent 
divines,  Guy  de  Bray  and  Peregrine  de  la  Grange, 
then  resident  at  Yalenciennes,  that  the  result  of 
acquiescence  would   be    the    suppression    of   their 
worship,  voted  to  bar  out  the  conscience-chaining 
soldiers.f     One  of  the  city  councillors  said  to  La 
Grange :  "If  you  fear  for  your  life  we  will  guarantee 
you  a  safe  conduct  from  our  walls.     Exert  your  all- 
powerful  eloquence  to  win  an  assent  to  the  demand 
of  her  highness."     "Nay,  friend,"  was  the  stout 
reply,  "I  care  not  unduly  for  myself — I  am  in  God's 
hands;  but  may  I  grow  mute  as  a  fish,  may  the 
tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth  before  I 
persuade  my  people  to  accept  a  garrison  of  cruel 
mercenaries,  by  whom  their  rights  of  conscience 
are  to  be  trampled  on.":{:     It  was  evident  that  if 
the  foreign  spearmen  entered  Valenciennes,  it  must 
be  through  breaches  in  the  walls.     La  Grange  was 
not  a  Jesuit,  doing  wrong  that  good  might  come. 
Two  negatives  make  an  affirmative;  but  he  knew 
that  two  vices  do  not  make  a  virtue.     And  if  he 
gave  counsel  which  brought  the  city  to  ruin,  it  was 
precisely  the  crime  which  ^schines  charged  upon 

*  Brandt,  ut  antea.  t  I^"^-     Valenciennes,  MS. 

t  Corrcsp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  5G1,  note. 


438  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

Demostlienes  in  the  Athenian  foriim,  and  over 
whicli  posterity  has  written  the  word  "  rej)udiation." 

On  the  17th*  of  December,  1566,  Valenciennes — 
so  named  from  its  Roman  founder,  the  emperor 
Valentiniant — was  declared  by  Margaret  to  be  re- 
bellious and  in  a  state  of  siege.:}:  The  city  had  long 
been  considered  by  the  court  as  "  a  hotbed  of  here- 
sy," and  though  it  had  been  originally  founded  as 
a  city  of  refuge,  it  was  thought  wofully  to  have 
abused  its  privileges  in  affording  an  asylum  to  dis- 
senters.! For  this  high  crime  the  duchess  ached 
to  scourge  it,  and  accordingly  Noircarmes  was  now 
sent  with  a  strong  force  to  administer  the  chastise- 
ment.ll  At  the  same  time,  its  nearness  to  the  French 
border  and  the  Huguenot  character  of  its  inhabit- 
ants had  impelled  Philip  to  give  the  governant  an 
order  to  proceed  with  circumspection — to  exhaust 
artifice  before  resorting  to  violence.^ 

While  Noircarmes  was  digging  his  trenches, 
Yalenciennes  was  busy  in  strengthening  its  natu- 
rally fine  fortifications,  and  in  issuing  appeals  for 
aid.  The  few  remaining  members  of  the  giicux, 
heeding  the  appeal,  at  once  set  themselves  in  mo- 
tion. Count  Louis  of  Nassau  passed  into  Germany 
to  recruit  an  army.*"    Brederode  drew  up  a  rcmon- 

*  Brandt  says  on  the  14tli  iust. — vol.  1,  p.  207. 
t  Guicciardiui,  Belg.  Des.,  p.  458,  el  seq. 

I  Valencieuues,  MS.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  x^.  207.     Hoofd.     Pontus 
*T*ayeu,  MS.  §  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  45. 

II  Bor.,  torn.  3,  p.  13G.     Brandt,  id  anlea. 
^  Strada,  vol.  2,  pp.  8,  9. 

^«  Groen  v.  Prinst.,  Archives,  etc.,  torn.  3. 


THE  REACTION.  439 

strance  wliicli  be  iuteuded  to  preseut  to  the  gover- 
nant  in  person,  at  the  head  of  four  hundred  knights.- 
Margaret,  who  was  tired  of  petitions,  on  being  told 
of  this  determination,  sent  him  this  message :  "  If 
you  come  to  Brussels  on  such  an  errand,  I  shall 
oiiut  the  city  gates  in  your'face."t  But  Brederode 
could  not  be  beaten  at  the  game  of  bluff,  and  spite 
of  all,  he  succeeded  in  laying  his  memorial  at  the 
regent's  feet.:}:  Her  reply  was  blunt  and  haughty 
enough — fit  twin  to  her  message  :  "  I  wonder  what 
kind  of  nobles  these  are  who,  after  requesting,  only 
a  twelvemonth  back,  to  be  saved  merely  from  the 
Inquisition,  now  presume  to  clamor  for  liberty  to 
preach  in  the  cities.  Know,  then,  that  the  gueux 
are  disbanded,  and  that  the  accord  is  cancelled. 
As  for  you  and  your  companions,  sir  count,  you 
will  do  well  to  go  to  your  homes  at  once.  Meddle 
less  with  pubHc  affairs  and  attend  more  to  your 
own.     Disobey  at  your  peril. "§ 

Thus  with  disdainful  hauteur  an^l  sinister  threats 
did  the  duchess  respond  to  a  paper  which  ventured 
to  remind  her  of  her  straits  and  her  pledges. 

Meantime,  Brederode's  seed  had  sprouted.  A  raff 
of  fugitives,  under  the  command  of  young  Marnix 
of  Thoulouse,  a  brother  of  St.  Aldegonde,  fresh  from 
.  college,  with  no  title  but  his  courage  to  leadership, 
made  a  descent  on  the  island  of  Walcheren,  a  place 
of  strategic  importance.  Eepelled  by  the  vigilance 
of  tHe  islanders,  Marnix  reembarked,  and  sailing 

«  Bor.,  torn.  3,  p.  US.     Strada,  vol.  1,  p.  142. 

t  Vide  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  99. 

X  Ibid. ,  p.  100.     Strada,  uhi  sup.     Cor.  de  Philippe  II. 

f  Strada.  p.  143.     Meteren.  vol.  2.  folio  47. 


i40  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

up  the  Scheldt,  again  left  his  boats  at  the  hamlet  of 
Austruweel,  under  the  shadow  of  Antwerp  walls.* 
The  unhappy  boy  landed  only  to  meet  his  death; 
for  on  the  12th  of  March,  1567,  his  undisciplined 
levies  Avere  surprised  and  literally  butchered  by 
Beauvoir,  commander  of  the  regent's  body-guard. t 
This  slaughter — for  it  was  not  a  battle — stirred  a 
three  days'  tumult  in  Antwerp,  which  was  finally 
appeased  without  bloodshed  by  the  courageous  en- 
ergy and  tact  of  the  Prince  of  Orange.J 

Some  months  before  the  tragedy  of  Austruweel, 
Noircarmes  was  told  that  several  stragghng  bands 
of  the  gueiix,  mustering  in  the  aggregate  upwards 
of  three  thousand  men,  had  appeared  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Tournay  with  the  twofold  object  of  protect- 
ing that  city,  which  had  refused  a  garrison,  and 
creatine;  a  diversion  in  favor  of  Valenciennes.  The 
ferocious  soldier,  among  whose  faults  slothfulness 
Avas  not  numbered,  at  once  Avithdrew  a  moiety  of 
his  troops  fror^,  the  Valenciennes  trenches,  and 
speeding  to  meet  the  foe,  assailed  the  unsuspecting 
camp  of  the  confederates  with  exceeding  fury. 
The  guenx  made  a  gallant  effort  to  breast  the  onset ; 
mechanics,  rustics,  students,  fought  hke  braA^e  men, 
long  and  Avell ;  but  the  contest  was  too  unequal, 
and  in  the  end  the  battle  became  a  massacre.  § 
Pausing  but   to    complete    the    rout,    Noircarmes 

«  Stracla,  vol.  2,  pp.  3,  4.     Bor.,  torn.  3,  p.  157. 
f  Ibid.     Metereu,  torn.  2,  folio  45. 
%  Ibid.     Hoofd,  torn.  4,  p.  127,  d  seq. 

§  Green  v.  Priust.,  Archives,  etc.,  torn.  3,  pp.  7,  8.  Hoofd. 
Strada. 


THE  REACTION.  441 

tliundered  up  to  the  gates  of  Tournay,  and  com- 
pelled the  town,  no  longer  capable  of  resistance, 
to  throw  open  its  posterns  and  shout  him  a  wel- 
come. He  garrisoned  the  citadel,  suppressed  the 
reformed  worship,  broke  up  the  consistory,  banish- 
ed the  preachers,  reestablished  Komanism,  and  then 
hastened  back  to  Valenciennes  to  press  the  siege 
with  redoubled  vigor.* 

This  victory  made  Brussels  sweat  with  joyful 
wine  and  jubilant  gluttony ;  multitudinous  were  the 
feasts,  countless  were  the  drunken  orgies  with 
which  the  courtiers  celebrated  it.  "  I  saw  Barlai- 
ment  just  go  by  my  window,"  wrote  Schwartz  to 
William ;  "  he  was  coming  from  Aerschot's  dinner 
with  a  face  as  red  as  the  cardinal's  new  hat."t 

Noircarmes  left  banqueting  to  the  carpet- 
knights  ;  and,  freed  from  all  danger  of  hostile  inter- 
ference by  the  recent  crushing  victories,  concen- 
trated his  whole  mind  upon  the  reduction  of  Valen- 
ciennes. The  rough  soldier's  pluck  had  been  sup- 
plemented by  the  rare  military  skill  of  Egmont,  a 
new-comer  in  the  camp;|  and  now,  under  their 
united  supervision,  the  hapless  town  was  girt  closer 
and  yet  closer  by  the  grim  cordon  of  mercenary 
spearmen.  The  beleaguered  citizens  fought  with 
the  energy  of  desperation  ;§  but  on  what  field  was 
untutored  devotion  ever  known  to  conquer  science  ? 
At  length  a  terrific  cannonade  laid  half  the  place  in 

2>  Strada,  pp.  7,  8. 

f  Archives  et  Correspondance.     Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  49. 
I  Valeuciciiues,  MS.         ■^  Ibid.     Strada,  vol.  2,  p.  7,  d  acq. 
19* 


442  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

ruins,  and  battered  a  dozen  fatal  breaches  in  the 
walls.  Noircarmes,  sword  in  hand,  was  about  to 
lead  his  men-at-arms  in  a  wild  assault,  when,  to 
escape  the  horrors  of  a  sack,  the  gallant  city  struck 
its  flag,  surrendering  at  discretion.* 

On  the  2d  of  April,  1567,  exactly  four  months 
after  the  commencement  of  the  siege,  the  victori- 
ous cohorts  of  the  king  trooped  through  the  blood- 
stained and  shattered  streets  of  Avhat  had  been  the 
most  prosperous  commercial  town  on  the  whole 
French  border.f  Now  fallen  from  its  high  estate, 
Valenciennes  was  deprived  of  its  ancient  immuni- 
ties, sentenced  to  defray  the  expenses  of  its  sub- 
jugation, and  compelled  to  provide  quarters  for  a 
X3ermanent  garrison  of  eight  battalions  of  imperious 
soldiers.:]: 

Nor  did  Noircarmes  rest  satisfied  with  this  hu- 
miliation. He  tore  down  the  chajDels  and  abolished 
the  worship  of  the  reformed  religion,  decreed  that 
henceforth  none  but  the  Koman  service  should  be 
celebrated  within  or  without  the  city  gates;  and  to 
give  emphasis  to  his  decree,  led  out  a  host  of  vic- 
tims to  die.§  Among  the  suiferers  were  La  Grange, 
and  De  Bray.  "  Citizens,"  cried  La  Grange,  as  he 
stood  upon  the  ladder  of  the  gibbet,  "  I  am  slain  for 
having  preached  the  pure  word  of  God  to  a  Chris- 
tian people  in  a  Christian  land."     "Friends,"  ech- 

•--  Strada,  vol.  2,  p.  10.     Bor.,  torn.  3,  p.  142. 

f  Valenciennes,  MS. 

X  Strada,  uhi  sup.     Hoofd,  torn.  4,  p.  129. 

§  Bor.,  torn.  3,  p.  142.   Hoofd,  torn.  4,  p.  129.  Valenciennes,  MS. 


THE  REACTION.  U3 

oed  De  Bray,  "  this  also  is  my  sole  offence."  Ere 
tliey  had  finished  sj^eaking,  the  eager  executioner 
launched  both  into  eternity.* 

The  keys  of  Valenciennes  opened  the  gates  of 
every  city  in  the  Netherlands.  Oudenarde,  Ghent, 
Ypres,  Tornhut,  became  servilely  submissive.f  Me- 
gen  dropped  garrisons  into  the  towns  of  Guelders.]: 
Aremberg  cantoned  his  soldiers  on  the  inhabitants 
of  Groningen  and  rriesland.§  Soon  throughout  the 
provinces  there  was  neither  the  power  nor  the  pur- 
pose of  resistance. 

Emboldened  by  the  success  which  had  thus  far 
attended  her  diplomacy  and  by  the  triumphant 
progress  of  her  arms,  Margaret  determined  to  de- 
mand of  the  whole  round  of  governmental  function- 
aries the  taking  of  a  new  and  sweeping  oath  of  alle- 
giance— extra-judicial,  unprecedented.  This  meas- 
ure had  been  uppermost  in  her  mind  since  the  early 
weeks  of  1566,  when  it  was  formally  discussed  and 
approved  at  the  council-board.]]  The  test-oath 
itself,  while  binding  all  who  took  it  to  uphold  the 
Eoman  church,  to  punish  sacrilege,  to  extirpate 
heresy,  to  yield  ready,  unquestioning,  unqualified 
obedience  to  the  king's  commands,  of  whatever  na- 
ture they  might  be,  decreed  deprivation  of  office  as 
the  penalty  of  non-subscription.TT 

This  pledge,  a  kind  of  verbal  inquisition,  was 

»  Brandt,  Hist,  des  MartjTS,  folios  CGI,  GG2. 
f  Metereu,  torn.  2,  folio  45.     Strada,  vol.  2,  pp.  13-23. 
X  Ibid.  §  Ibid. 

11  Strada,  vol.  2,  p.  11.     Bor.,  Meteren.  IT  Ibid. 


444  THE  DUTCH  KEFOKMATION. 

exacted  by  the  governant,  not  as  a  test  of  temper, 
for  slie  could  well  distinguish  between  the  king's 
friends  and  foes ;  not  as  a  bond  for  the  insincere, 
for  she  knew  that  these  could  not  be  tied ;  but  as  a 
decent  pretext  for  the  dismissal  from  power  of  the 
disaffected  who  might  refuse  to  sully  their  lips  by  a 
false  vow,  and  as  an  excuse  for  the  execution  of 
whoever  should  take  and  then  break  the  oath.* 
And  she  was  especially  induced  to  cast  this  pru- 
dent anchor  to  windward  at  this  time,  by  the  late 
arrival  of  an  express  from  Madrid,  which  api3rized 
her  that  the  duke  of  Alva  was  about  to  embark  for 
the  Netherlands  as  the  avanf-courier  of  Philip. f 

The  oath  was  taken,  with  more  or  less  willing- 
ness, by  Aerschot,  and  Barlaimont,  and  Megen,  and 
Egmont,  and  by  Count  Mansfeld,  the  new  "  facto- 
tum at  Brussels,"  whose  name  led  this  bead-roll  of 
court  saints. :[:  Four  seigneurs — Brederode,  Horn, 
Hoogstraaten,  and  Orange — spurned  it  with  indig- 
nation. Brederode,  who  held  an  insignificant  mili- 
tary command,  threw  up  his  commission  in  disgust. 
Horn,  who  had  already  resigned  his  honors,  sent 
word  from  "VVeert  that  the  demand  on  him  was  use- 
less. Hoogstraaten  asked  Margaret  to  relieve  him 
of  the  lieutenant-generalship  of  Antwerp.  Orange 
promptly  tendered  the  resignation  of  his  many  dig- 
nities. § 

As  for  Brederode,  and  Horn,  and  Hoogstraaten, 
their  pleas  were  answered  with  laconic  disdain  ;  but 
Orange  was  still  too  influential  to  alienate ;  so  the 

«  Stiada,  vol.  2,  p.  11.  t  Ibitl.  t  Ibiel.  ^  Ibid. 


THE  REACTION.  445 

duchess  coaxed,  wheedled,  and  bulHed  by  turns,  witli 
a  resolute  purpose  of  persuading  the  prince  to  lay 
his  head  in  the  lap  of  Delilah ;  but  all  in  vain." 

Berti,  Margaret's  private  secretary,  ventured  to 
expostulate,  and  referred  to  the  prince's  honor, 
which  would  be  impugned,  and  to  his  motives, 
which  would  be  misconstrued.  "  Say  no  more," 
interrupted  Orange ;  "  I  am  determined  to  quit  the 
provinces ;  I  will  await  better  days  in  another  land. 
Leave  me  to  care  for  my  honor ;  and  as  for  my  mo- 
tives, I  leave  their  vindication  to  posterity. "f 

The  wil}^  secretary  was  at  his  wit's  end ;  but  as 
he  was  about  to  bow  himself  out  of  William's  pres- 
ence, he  made  one  last  effort.  "  I  pray  you,  sir," 
said  he,  "  ere  you  leave  the  Netherlands,  talk  this 
business  over  with  Egmont  and  such  others  of  the 
seigneurs  as  you  may  select."  To  this  the  prince 
readily  assented ;  and  the  village  of  Willebrock,  on 
the  Kapel,  between  Brussels  and  Antwerp,  was 
named  as  the  place  of  conference.:]: 

Here,  on  the  first  of  April,  1567,  Egmont,  accom- 
panied by  Count  Mansfeld  and  Berti,  met  his  high- 
ness of  Nassau.§  Notwithstanding  their  dissimilar- 
ity of  character  and  position,  Egmont  and  Orange 
Avere  warm  personal  friends,  and  each  now  exerted 
himself  to  the  utmost  to  win  over  the  other  to  his 
way  of  thinking.    The  prince  knew  that  the  leading 

**  Eenom.  de  Francia.  Corresp.  de  Guillaiime  le  Tacit.,  torn.  2. 
Grocn  v.  Prinst.,  Archives,  etc.,  torn.  3,  pp.  43,  48. 

f  Strada,  vol.  2,  p.  13.  Corresp.  de  Guillaume  le  Tacit.,  pp. 
354-117.     Hoofd,  torn.  4,  p.  130. 

X  Ibid.,  p.  14.    Cor.  de  Gi;il.  le  Tac,  torn.  2,  p,  41G.        §  Tbid. 


446  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

seigneurs  had  been  proscribed  at  Madrid — that 
Alva's  coming  meant  death  to  all.  Had  he  not 
read  the  programme  in  black  and  white?  "Count," 
said  lie,  "  fly  before  the  coming  storm ;  bide  it  out 
with  me  in  Germany." 

But  Egmont  was  deaf  to  his  friend's  arguments. 
To  him  the  prophetic  warning  of  Orange  seemed  to 
come  from  a  sad  and  dispirited  heart.  Above  his 
head  the  sky  still  smiled.  Never  before  had  he  been 
so  courted  by  the  duchess;  and  popularity  is  the 
best  prism  to  see  fancies  by.  Besides,  for  him, 
exile  was  pecuniary  ruin.  A  Fleming,  all  his  estates 
lay  in  the  provinces ;  nor  was  he  the  man  to  accept 
beggary  for  a  principle.  Then,  too,  he  was  a  sin- 
cere Komanist,  and  his  creed  tied  him  to  the  throne. 
Orange,  on  the  contrary,  was  a  Protestant.  A  moi- 
ety of  his  heritage  was  without  the  confines  of  the 
states.  If  he  passed  into  Germany,  he  went  not 
into  exile,  but  to  the  home  of  his  ancestors — to  the 
warm  greeting  of  leal  kinsmen  and  devoted  co-reli- 
gionists. Every  motive  urged  William  to  depart 
for  a  season ;  most  motives  persuaded  Egmont  to 
remain.  Therefore  neither  could  shake  the  deter- 
mination of  the  other. 

"It  will  cost  you  your  provincial  estates.  Orange, 
if  you  persist  in  your  purpose,"  said  the  count,  as 
he  led  the  prince  aside  into  the  embrasure  of  a 
window.  "  And  you  your  life,  Egmont,  if  you  change 
not  yours,"  was  the  grave  reply.  Orange  added : 
"  To  me  it  will  at  least  be  some  consolation  in  nij 
misfortunes,  that  I  desired  in  deed,  as  well  as  in 


THE  EEACTION.  Ul 

word,  to  help  my  country  and  my.  friends  in  the 
hour  of  need  ;  but  you,  my  friend,  you  are  dragging 
friends  and  country  with  you  to  destruction." 

"  Nay,"  said  Egmont,  "  you  will  never  persuade 
me  to  see  things  in  the  gloomy  light  in  which  they 
appear  to  your  mournful  prudence.  The  king  is 
good  and  just;  if  I  have  erred,  I  will  retrieve  the 
past,  and  then  throw  myself  on  the  royal  clem- 
ency." 

"  Well,  then,"  cried  Orange,  "  trust  if  you  will  to 
Philip's  gratitude ;  but  my  soul  presages — may  God 
grant  that  I  be  deceived — that  you,  Egmont,  will 
be  the  bridge  across  which  the  Spaniards  will  pass 
to  the  destruction  of  our  country."  Then,  clasping 
Egmont  to  his  heart,  wdiile  tears  dimmed  his  eyes, 
he  gazed  at  him  long,  as  if  the  sight  were  to  serve 
for  the  remainder  of  his  life ;  and  so  they  parted, 
one  to  go  hoodwinked  to  the  scaffold  in  a  few  brief 
months,  the  other  to  reserve  himself  for  the  glori- 
ous duties  of  the  future.* 

While  Egmont  hastened  back  to  Brussels,  to 
dispel  the  light  cloud  which  the  interview  at  Wille- 

«  Strada,  vol.  2,  p.  11.  .Beutivoglio,  torn.  3,  p.  55.  Hoofd, 
torn.  4,  p.  130. 

"Hoofd  alludes  to  a  rumor,  according  to  whlcli  Egmont  said 
to  Orange  at  parting  :  '  Adieu,  landless  prince ! '  being  answered 
by  his  friend,  '  Adieu,  headless  count ! '  The  stoi-y  has  been  often 
repeated,  yet  nothing  could  well  be  more  insipid  than  such  an 
invention.  Hoofd  observes  that  the  whole  conversation  was  re- 
ported by  a  person  whom  the  Calvinists  had  concealed  in  the  chim- 
ney of  the  apartment  where  the  interview  took  place.  It  would 
have  been  difficult  to  credit  such  epigrams  even  had  the  historian 
himself  been  in  the  chimney."     Motley,  vol.  2,  pp.  88,  89,  note. 


448  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

brock  had  cast  upon  the  horizon  of  his  mind,  bj 
sunning  himself  with  fresh  abandon  in  Margaret's 
favor,  the  wiser  prince  occupied  himself  in  pushing 
the  preparations  for  his  expatriation.  Time  pressed. 
The  minutes  now  were  full  of  scaffolds.  Already 
"William  had  been  warned  by  his  wife's  kinsman, 
the  landgrave  of  Hesse,  to  "  beware  of  Alva."  "  I 
know  him  well,"  added  the  acute  old  man;  "let 
him  not  smear  your  mouth  with  honey."*  It  was  a 
blunder  which  Orange  Avas  not  likely  to  fall  into. 
A  few  daj's  after  the  abortive  conference  with  Eg- 
mont,  he  set  out  for  Breda.f  There  he  paused  for 
a  space  to  settle  his  private  affairs  and  to  indite 
farewell  letters  to  Philip,  to  the  governant,  to  Horn, 
to  Egmont.  As  if  aware  of  the  monumental  impor- 
tance which  these  missives  were  to  assume  for  pos- 
terity, William  drew  them  up  in  Latin.:}:  In  that  to 
the  king,  he  once  more  resigned  his  offices — the  gov- 
ernant had  refused  to  accept  the  tender — announced 
his  intention  of  repairing  to  Germany,  explained 
the  reasons  on  which  he  based  this  action,  and  con- 
cluded thus :  "  I  shall  alwaj's  be  ready  to  place  my- 
self and  my  property  at  your  majesty's  orders  in 
every  thing  which  I  believe  conducive  to  your  true 
service."§  In  that  to  Margaret,  he  wrote  a  few 
polite  commonplaces,  and  subscribed  himself  "  her 
liiglmess'  most  faithful  servant."ll     In  that  to  Horn, 

=-•  Archives  de  la  Maison  d'Orange-Nassau,  torn.  3,  p.  42. 
t  April  11.  X  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  89. 

§  Archives  et  Correspoudauce,  torn.  3,  p.  G4,  et  seq. 
II  Strada,  vol.  2,  p.  14. 


THE  REACTION.  449 

he  said :  "  I  am  unable  louger  to  connive  at  the 
sins  daily  committed  against  my  country  and  my 
conscience.  Believe  me,  the  government  has  been 
accustoming  us  to  panniers,  only  that  we  may  ac- 
cept more  patiently  the  saddle  and  bridle.  My  back 
is  not  strong  enough  to  bear  the  weight  already 
imposed.  I  prefer  exile  to  slavery."-  In  that  to 
Egmont,  he  again  affirmed  that  he  was  acting,  not 
from  caprice,  but  deliberately,  conscientiously,  and 
in  pursuance  of  a  long-settled  plan.  "  For  yourself, 
Egmont,"  he  added,  "  I  beg  you  to  believe  that  you 
have  no  more  sincere  friend  than  I  am.  My  love 
for  you  has  struck  such  deep  root  into  my  heart, 
that  it  can  be  lessened  by  no  distance  of  time  and 
place ;  and  I  pray  you  in  return  to  maintain  the  old 
feeling  towards  me."t 

On  the  22d  of  April,  1567,  the  prince  bade  fare- 
well to  the  Netherlands  for  a  season,  and,  accom- 
panied by  his  whole  family — with  the  exception  of 
his  eldest  son,  the  count  of  Buren,  who  was  left  to 
pursue  his  studies  at  the  University  of  Louvaine, 
sheltered,  as  his  father  thought,  by  the  privileges  of 
Brabant^ — departed  for  the  ancestral  seat  of  the 
Nassaus  at  Dillenburg.§ 

While  Orange  was  leaving  Breda,  Sound-and- 
fury  Brederode  was  preparing  to  quit  Amsterdam. 
For  the  last  tvro  months  he  had  spent  his  time  be- 

■-"  Ai'chives,  etc.,  uhi  swp. 

f  Ai-chives  de  la  Maison  d'Orange-Nassau,  torn.  3,  p.  70. 

X  Strada,  vol.  2,  p.  14. 

§  Iliid.     Archives  ct  Correspondance,  torn.  3,  p.  73. 


450  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION, 

tween  that  city  and  his  town  of  Viana,  causing  riot 
and  debauchery  to  rave  and  leer  wherever  he  ap- 
peared. An  annoyance  to  all  parties,  he  was  shun- 
ned by  all.  "Wealthy  Protestants  were  especially 
wary  of  him,  for  they  had  no  confidence  in  his  capa- 
city to  do  any  thing  but  demand  contributions  to 
tlie  patriot  cause,  and  then  distil  their  money  into 
drink.*  He  made  much  mischief,  but  did  little 
good.  Indeed,  what  could  be  expected  of  a  man 
whose  pot  companions  were  outlaws  and  vaga-, 
bonds — swaggering  nobles  disguised  as  sailors,  and 
bankrupt  tradesmen  ?t  Not  from  these  shriekers 
of  "  Vivent  les  gueux .'" — these  haunters  of  taverns 
and  frequenters  of  bagnios,  was  emancipation  to 
come. 

Alarmed  by  the  tone  wdiich  affairs  were  taking, 
Brederode  had  requested  Egmont  to  intercede  for 
him  with  the  duchess.  "  Offer  her  carte  hlanclie  as 
to  terms,"  wrote  "  the  great  beggar."$  This  late 
submission  was  rejected  by  Margaret  with  disdain; 
so  that  there  was  nothing  left  for  it  but  flight.  But 
this  historic  Mark  Tapley  was  never  so  hapjDy  as 
when  he  was  miserable.  On  tlie  25th  of  April, 
1567,  he  summoned  his  adherents  to  meet  him  at 
his  Amsterdam  hotel  to  say  good-by;  and  at  mid- 
night, after  a  wild  carouse,  he,  too,  embarked  for 
Germany,  being  escorted  to  'the  water's  edge  by  a 

«  Bor.,  torn.  3,  p.  IGl.     Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  127. 
t  Ibid.     Motley,  Tol.  2,  p.  92. 

X  MS.  letter  of  Granvelle  to  Alva.    Bibl.  de  Bourg.     Cited  in 
Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  93.     Strada,  vol.  2,  p.  19. 


THE  REACTION.  451 

body-guard  of  tipsy  followers  bearing  lighted  torch- 
es and  chanting  bacchanalian  songs.*  Such  was 
"the  great  beggar's"  exit.  Within  a  twelvemonth 
afterwards,  Brederode  drank  himself  to  death  while 
busied  in  Westphalia  in  recruiting  an  army  of  inva- 
sion— "  dying  as  the  fool  dieth."t 

The  departure  of  Orange  and  the  flight  of  Bre- 
derode were  the  signal  for  a  general  exodus. 
Hoogstraaten,  Count  Louis  of  Nassau,  and  Culem- 
burg,  with  a  host  of  others,  followed  William  into 
Germany,:}:  grouping  themselves  about  their  self- 
exiled  chief  by  a  law  kindred  to  that  which  mar- 
shals the  heavenly  bodies  around  the  sun — attrac- 
tion. Those  of  the  seigneurs  who  remained,  made 
haste  to  imitate  Egmont's  example;  even  Horn 
succumbed  and  took  the  oath.§ 

Everyv^^llere  the  reformed  were  cowed  and  panic- 
struck;  everywhere  the  papists  were  jubilant  and 
aggressive.  Egmont,  Noircarmes,  Aerschot,  Megen, 
were  constantly  in  the  saddle  scouring  the  provin- 
ces, and  hanging,  burning,  drowning  such  of  the 
sectaries  as  had  not  already  sought  safety  in  flight.H 
The  fickle  masses,  whose  sympathies  are  ever  with 
success,  became  as  hotly  Eomau  as  they  had  been 
Protestant.  The  cities  volunteered  to  suppress  her- 
esy. Mobs  took  it  upon  themselves,  without  await- 
ing the  verdict  of  the  civil  tribunals,  to  j)unish  the 

^  Vita  Viglii,  p.  51.     Hoofd,  torn.  4,  p.  135. 

t  Strada,  vol.  2,  p.  20.     Bor.,  Hoofd. 

J  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  128.     Meteren,  Bor. 

§  Cor.  de  Marg.  d'Autriclie,  p.  238.  ||  Ibid.,  p.  235. 


452  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

iconoclasts  and  to  nproot  tlieir  monuments ;  accord- 
ingly, up  and  down  they  roamed,  from  Valenciennes 
to  Amsterdam,  assailing,  gutting,  demolishing  the 
newly  erected  chapels  of  the  Reformation,  and  dec- 
orating every  cross-road  with  a  gibbet  shaped  from 
the  ruins  of  their  sack,  on  which  they  hung  "here- 
tics "  with  scoffs  and  jeers.* 

While  these  licensed  spoilers  were  thus  amu- 
sing themselves,  Margaret,  the  chief  mobocrat,  was 
making  a  formal  entry  into  Antwerp  at  the  head  of 
sixteen  companies  of  men-at-arms.f  The  long  un- 
broken metropolis  had  taken  the  bit  and  was  now 
pulling  in  the  traces  of  the  court.  The  sectaries 
had  been  ousted ;  the  city  was  swept  clean  of  them  ; 
and  now  the  duchess  herself  was  come  to  secure 
this  new  prize  for  the  king.| 

In  the  midst  of  her  triumphs — while  heretics 
were  being  hung  and  the  Roman  churches  Avere 
being  swept  and  garnished  for  the  reception  of  sev- 
en other  devils  worse  than  the  first — a  deputation 
from  the  Lutheran  princes  of  Germany  waited  upon 
her,  and  entreated  her  to  grant  liberty  of  worship 
to  their  provincial  brothers  of  the  Confession  of 
Augsburg;  but  the  masculine  duchess  whistled  them 
down  the  wind  with  little  ceremony§ — as  they  de- 
served, for  their  narrowness  in  pleading  merely  for 
^he  toleration  of  their  sect  while  Protestantism  at 
large  was  in  the  valley  of  humiliation. 

=--  Brandt,  vol.  1,  pp.  208-260.    Hoofd,  torn.  4.    Strada,  ut  antea. 

t  Strada,  vol.  2,  pp.  17,  18.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  254, 

J  Ibid.  '  §  Strada,  uhi  sujx 


THE  REACTION.  453 

So  iser  was  Margaret  from  any  idea  of  relaxing 
her  severity,  that  on  the  24th  of  May,  1567,  she 
issued  an  edict  which  revived  the  code  of  the  days 
of  Granvelle,  and  smelt  of  blood  in  every  letter.    It 
was  an  ordinance  of  such  searching  cruelty,  that  it 
was  quite  impossible  for  any  Protestant  who  had 
committed  an  overt  act  to  escape  its  penalties;*  and 
Margaret  hastened  to  despatch  a  copy  to  Madrid 
for  the  king's  inspection.     Imagine  her  surprise  on 
receiving,  a  little  later,  these   lines  from   Philip: 
"  This   act   is   indecorous,  illegal,   and   altogether 
repugnant  to  the  true  spirit  of  Christianity ;  it  must 
be  instantly  revoked."t   "  What !"  thought  her  high- 
ness, "have  I  gone  too  far?"     But  on  reading  the 
king's  missive  through,  she  found  that  his  objections 
were  not  based  on  the  severity,  but  upon  the  over- 
leniency  of  her  frightful  edict.    "  Not  only  those  who 
have  obtruded  their  heresy  upon  the  public,  but  those 
who  have  been  heretics  in  their  secret  thoughts, 
must  be  hunted  out  and  executed,":j:  wrote  his  maj- 
esty.    Margaret  had  not  yet  completed  her  educa- 
tion in  the  school  of  persecution,  and  Philip  would 
not  give  her  a  diploma. 

Nevertheless,  "feeble"  as  the  king  declared  it, 
the  edict  had  half-depopulated  the  states — driven 
men  from  the  country  "in  great  heaps,"  in  the 
homely  phrase  of  an  old  chronicler.§  And  the  emi- 
gration became  so  frightful,  that  both  foreigners 

*  Vide  the  edict  given  iu  full  in  Bor.,  torn.  3,  p,  170,  el  seq. 
t  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  551.  J  Ibid. 

§  Bor.,  torn.  3,  p.  171. 


454  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

and  natives  were  forbidden  even  to  travel,  bv  a 
proclamation  which  decreed  death  as  the  penalty  of 
disobedience.* 

"  Thus,"  says  Strada,  with  gratulatory  empha- 
sis, "the  fire  kindled  by  the  people's  discontent, 
blown  to  a  flame  by  the  bellows  in  the  reformed 
pulpits,  fed  by  the  emulation 'of  the  lords,  and  scat- 
tered by  the  faction  of  the  gueux,  was  so  damped 
and  extinguished  by  the  governant,  that  religion 
and  obedience  were  everywhere  restored ;  the  here- 
tics being  fitly  punished,  while  the  leaguers  became 
gueux  indeed,  whose  emblem  was  in  fact  and  not  in 
jest,  poverty  and  an  empty  wallet."t  The  court 
had  a  right  to  felicitate  itself;  but  its  creatures 
were  mistaken  in  supposing  that  the  revolution  was 
suppressed — it  was  but  postponed. 

The  image -breaking  had  produced  reaction; 
and  reform,  demoralized  by  excess,  needed  a  fresh 
baptism  of  blood  and  suffering  ere  God  would  i)er- 
mit  it  to  set  its  seal  upon  the  future. 

«  Bor.,  torn.  3,  p.  175.  +  Strada,  vol.  2,  pp.  20,  21. 


ALVA.  455 


CHAPTEE   XXVI. 

ALVA. 

In  the  spring  of  1567,  tlie  duchess  of  Parma  was 
able  to  forward  to  Madrid  tidings  of  the  full  success 
of  her  covj)s  cVefat.  The  abrogation  of  the  tolerant 
edicts,  the  dissolution  of  the  gueux,  the  subjugation 
of  the  insurgent  cities,  the  flight  of  the  chief  inno- 
vators, beggars  for  then-  bread  at  foreign  courts, 
the  suppression  of  the  Protestant  worship,  the  res- 
toration of  the  Roman  church  to  its  pristine  author- 
ity— these  were  the  spoils  of  her  yictorj. 

The  future  of  reform  did,  indeed,  look  black. 
Betrayed  by  the  excesses  of  fanatics,  stabbed  by 
the  selfishness  and  inconstancy  of  the  nobles,  Hb- 
erty  lay  at  the  last  gasp— a  fact  which  shows  the 
absurdity  of  that  charge  of  the  Eomanist  histori- 
ans, that  the  revolution  was  stirred  by  the  uneasy 
ambition  of  the  grandees ;  a  class  who,  in  the  out- 
set, obeyed,  instead  of  exciting,  the  popular  move- 
ment, and  who  later,  by  their  vacillation  and  dis- 
sensions, brought  the  cause  they  had  espoused  to 
temporary  ruin. 

After  acquainting  the  king  with  the  pacification 
of  the  states,  Margaret  folded  her  hands  and  await- 
ed the  royal  guerdon  with  complacent  patience. 
But  Philip  "remembered  to  forget"  her  claims. 
In  the  quiet  councils  of  the  imperial  will,  it  had 


456  THP^  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

been  decided  to  shift  tlie  governmeut  of  the  prov- 
inces into  sterner  haads.  The  definitive  nature  of 
the  regent's  restored  order  was  doubted  at  Madrid. 
The  gain  was  thought  to  be  but  transient ;  for  the 
causes  of  the  recent  outbreaks  yet  existed.  The 
ancient  charters  had  been  overridden,  but  they 
were  still  unannulled.  The  tenets  of  the  Keforma- 
tion  had  been  smeared  with  blood,  but  they  still 
commanded  reverence.  Both  were  sure  to  breed 
new  tumults. 

Philiii  called  to  mind  how  his  pious  ancestors 
had  acted  under  somewhat  similar  circumstances. 
The  Moors,  professing  to  acquiesce  in  the  conquest 
and  to  receive  the  faith  of  their  foemen,  neverthe- 
less continued  to  adore  Mahomet  in  their  secret 
hearts,  praying  towards  Mecca  when  alone ;  where- 
upon the  ministry  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition  was 
invoked.  Evidently  the  monarch  esteemed  this  an 
act  worthy  of  imitation. 

Accordingly,  the  pacification  which  the  gover- 
nant  vaunted  did  not  alter  the  purpose  of  Philip  to 
despatch  Alva  into  the  Low  Countries  booted  and 
spurred  for  conquest ;  on  the  contrary,  persuaded 
that  Margaret  was  treading  upon  hot  ashes,  he  was 
urged  by  the  news  to  fresh  exertions  in  the  raising 
and  equipping  of  an  army  of  invasion.  All  the 
while,  however,  the  king,  maj-hap  for  reasons  simi- 
lar to  those  ascribed  by  Tacitus  to  Tiberius  under 
somewhat  analogous  circumstances,*  continued  to 

*  Coeterum,  lit  jam  jamque  iterus,  legit  comites,  couqnisivit 
impedimenta,  adomavit  uaves :  mox  hiemem,  aut  uegotia  varia 


ALVA.  457 

give  out  that  Alva  was  to  act  merely  as  the  herald 
of  his  own  approach.* 

lu  Spain  the  din  of  warlike  preparation  recalled 
the  stirring  days  of  the  paladin  emperor.  The  con- 
tagious epidemic  infected  all  classes.  Even  those 
who  had  pleaded  against  a  resort  to  arms  at  first, 
now,  seeing  that  Philip  had  decided  upon  hostili- 
ties, with  the  ready  tact  of  courtiers  hailed  that  pol- 
icy with  louder  vivas  than  its  original  advocates. 
Huy  Gomez  perceived  that  the  expedition  would 
at  least  remove  his  rival  from  court,  and  engage 
him  in  difficulties  which  might  ha]3ly  prove-  ruinous 
to  his  fame ;  while  Alva  was  content  to  leave  his 
competitor  behind,  in  whatsoever  degree  of  place 
and  favor,  because,  as  it  troubled  him  to  see  the 
king  value  his  merits  less  than  the  other's  person, 
so  he  was  ambitious  of  some  employment  where 
war  and  the  field  might  put  a  difi'erence  between 
those  whom  peace  and  the  court  had  equalled.f 

Thus  from  one  motive  or  another  opposition  had 
hushed  its  voice,  and  the  levies  went  briskly  on. 
The  viceroys  of  Sardinia,  Sicily,  Naples,  and  Lom- 
bardy  were  ordered  to  despatch  the  veteran  troojps, 
rusty  from  inaction  in  the  garrisons  of  their  respec- 
tive territories,  to  the  rendezvous  in  Piedmont, 
where  Alva  was  to  meet  them,  and  supply  their 
places  with  the  raw  Castilian  recruits  whom  he 
brought  out.:}:     Money  was  sent  to  the  Netherlands, 

cansatns  primo  prudentes,   deiu  vulgum,    diiitissime  pl•o^incias 
fefellit."     Taciti  Annales,  torn.  1,  cap.  47. 

*  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  25.  t  Hjic^-  §  Ibid. 

nntrh  Rcf.  20 


458  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

that  the  regent  might  hold  in  readiness  those  men- 
at-arms  who  had  just  dragooned  the  provinces  into 
submission."  And  "  since  the  invasion  resembled 
both  a  crusade  against  the  infidel  and  a  treasure- 
hunting  foray  into  the  golden  Indies,  achievements 
b}  which  Spanish  chivalry  had  so  often  illustrated 
itself;  since  the  banner  of  the  cross  was  to  be  re- 
planted upon  the  conquered  battlements  of  three 
hundred  heretical  cities,  and  a  torrent  of  wealth 
richer  than  ever  flowed  from  Mexican  or  Peruvian 
mines  was  to  pour  into  the  royal  and  ecclesiastical 
exchequers  from  the  perennial  fountains  of  confis- 
cation," it  was  fitting  that  the  Spanish  clergy,  and 
especially  the  monks  of  the  Inquisition,  should  con- 
tribute richly  towards  the  expenses  of  this  holy  war.i- 

Alva  was  the  Pizarro  of  the  new  crusade — ^a  fact 
which  exhibited  ahke  the  animus  and  the  purpose 
of  the  king. 

Fernando  Alvarez  de  Toledo,  duke  of  Alva,  was 
the  heir  of  an  ancient  Castilian  house  which  claimed 
descent  from  the  Byzantine  emperors.:]:  Born  in 
1508,  and  orphaned  in  his  fifth  year  by  the  death  of 
his  father,  slain  by  the  African  Moors  at  the  siege 
of  Gelves,  he  was  adopted  by  his  paternal  grandfa- 
ther, famous  as  the  conqueror  of  Navarre,  and  nursed 
on  the  breast  of  two  ideas  :  a  passion  for  war  and  a 
hatred  of  whatever  bore  the  countenance  of  heresy.§ 

="■  Schiller,  Eevolt  of  tlie  Netlaerlauds. 

t  Prescott,  Tol.  2,  p.  149.    Meteren,  Hist.  desPays-Bas,  fol.  52. 
X  Hist  de  Ferdinand- Alvarez,  Due  d'Albe,  p.  3  ;  Paris,  1099. 
§  Ibid.     Conde  de  la  Koca's  Life,  etc.,  of  Alva. 


ALVA.  459 

Donning  liis  armor  at  an  early  age,  the  skilful 
gallantry  of  young  Alvarez  speedily  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  long-headed,  though  still  bojdsh 
emperor.  These  two  soon  became  sworn  compan- 
ions-in-arms,  and  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  the  sol- 
dier was  the  strong  right  hand  of  Charles  V.  Al- 
ways in  harness,  and  studying  war  as  a  science  in  the 
camp  of  Caesar,  the  nascent  captain  rose  rapidly  in 
his  profession  until,  at  the  siege  of  Metz,  in  1552, 
he  held  the  haton  of  generalissimo." 

Before  this,  in  1527,  he  had  succeeded  to  the 
titles  and  the  large  patrimonial  estates  of  the  house 
of  Toledo ;  and  though  his  duchy  yielded  a  com- 
l^aratively  small  revenue,  the  rigid  economy  of  the 
thrifty  financier,  which  bordered  upon  niggardli- 
ness, together  with  what  booty  he  could  pick  up  in 
his  campaigns — no  inconsiderable  source  of  gain — 
mated  him  with  the  wealthiest  of  the  European 
nobles.t 

As  a  soldier,  Alva  was  singularly  successful. 
He  was  scientific,  he  was  adroit,  and  he  was  cau- 
tious to  a  proverb. t-  Like  his  Eoman  prototype, 
his  delays  had  often  saved  the  monarchy.  Perhaps 
the  success  of  his  mihtary  career  was  OAnng  more  to 
the  fact  that  he  knew  as  well  how  to  wait  as  how  to 
strike — that,  in  an  age  when  war  was  practised  as 

*  Hist,  de  Ferdinand-Alvarez,  Due  d'Albe,  p.  3  ;  Paris,  1G09. 
Conde  delaEoca'sLife,  etc.,  of  Alva.  Brantome,  Horn,  Illiist.,  etc. 

t  Ibid. 

X  "Caution  was  his  most  prominemt  trait ;  in  which,  even  as  a 
boy,  he  was  a  match  for  any  graybeard  in  the  army."  Prescott, 
vol.  1,  p.  163. 


460  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

a  street-fight  is  now  waged,  on  rough-and-tumble 
principles,  he  was  a  thorough  master  of  the  science 
of  offence  and  defence — than  to  his  intuitive  military 
genius.  Indeed,  Alva  was  not  a  genius,  he  was 
merely  a  consummate  pedant.  He  was  a  hard  stu- 
dent of  war,  but  he  originated  nothing.  Some  one 
has  said  that  most  people's  ideas  are  adopted  chil- 
dren ;  few  brains  can  raise  a  family  of  their  own. 
Alva  was  Fabius  Cunctator  resurrected. 

The  soldierly  qualities  of  this  vivified  copy  of  the 
dead  were  well  known  and  appreciated  throughout 
Europe.  His  cunning,  his  caution,  his  stealth,  his 
discipline,  his  venom,  made  him  the  least  desirable 
of  antagonists,  and  won  for  him  a  reputation  so  sin- 
ister that  his  very  name  caused  men  to  shudder; 
for  his  military  qualities  were  but  the  outcome  of 
his  personal  character.  Hard,  uncompromising, 
miserly,  ferocious,  patiently  vindictive — such  was 
his  temper;  and  his  manner,  stern  and  overbearing 
from  the  practice  of  the  camp,  was  the  exact  reflex 
of  his  mind. 

As  a  politician,  Alva  possessed  neither  experi- 
ence nor  talent.  Yet  because  he  had  expunged 
from  his  vocabulary  the  word  mercy,  because  he 
was  a  bigot  in  religion,  because  he  was  an  absolu- 
tist in  politics — good  qualities  which  counterbal- 
anced all  defects  in  his  master's  mind — Philip  had 
selected  him  as  the  fittest  of  his  satellites  to  organ- 
ize murdei-  in  the  Netherlands. 

The  famous  captain  was  at  this  time  in  his 
sixtieth  year,  but  hale  and  hearty  as  in  middle 


ALVA.  .  461 

life  *  His  tall,  lean  person,  hardened  by  ex^DOSure  and 
preserved  by  habitual  temperance,  seemed  good  yet 
for  many  a  warlike  bout,  and  gave  him  a  striking 
martial  air — though  dark  and  sinister  eyes,  a  yel- 
low complexion,  black  hair  which  resembled  the 
"  quills  on  the  back  of  a  fretful  porcupine,"  and  a 
mottled  beard  which  flowed,  cascade-like,  over  the 
breast  in  a  double  stream,!  did  not-  impart  to  him 
the  aspect  of  an  Alcibiades  or  an  Apollo. 

On  the  15th  of  April,  1567,  Alva  had  a  last  inter- 
view with  PhiHp  at  Aranjuez,  receiving  instructions 
so  copious  and  minute,  that  he  complained  of  them 
as  hampering  his  actions  beyond  any  programme 
of  procedure  which  the  emperor  himself  had  ever 
marked  out  for  his  guidauce.:|:  A  few  days  later,§ 
he  embarked  at  Carthagena,  where  a  fleet  of  thirty- 
six  galleys,  commanded  by  the  Genoese  admiral, 
Andrew  Doria,  had  awaited  him,  and  set  sail  for 
Italy,  whence  he  was  to  cross  the  Alps  into  the 
Low  Countries — a  path  rendered  necessary  by  the 
refusal  of  Charles  IX.  to  give  him  passage  through 
France,  under  pretext  that  the  Huguenots  would 
misconstrue  the  courtesy.il 

Landing  at  Genoa,  after  a  somewhat  protracted 
voyage,  Alva  was  pinched  by  the  gout,  brought  on 
by  the  sea  air,  and  this  in  its  turn  was  aggravated 

«  Badavaro,  MS.     Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  119. 

f  Ibid.  X  Documentos  Ineditos,  torn.  4,  p.  354. 

§  Prescott  says  on  the  27th  of  April.  Vol.  2,  p.  153.  Schiller 
says  on  the  5th  of  May.  Vol.  2,  p.  66.  Bohn's  ed.  Motley  says  on 
the  10th  of  May.     Vol.  2,  p.  110.     Strada  gives  no  date. 

II  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  20. 


462  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

by  an  attack  of  tertian  ague,  wliicli  laid  him  on  a 
sick-bed  for  a  week.* 

Upon  being  apprized  of  the  duke's  ilhiess,  Mar- 
garet of  Parma  made  a  desperate  effort  to  bar  out 
the  invaders  by  a  direct  appeal  to  the  king,  ere  the 
hostile  trumpets  should  resound  from  beyond  the 
Alps.  Perfectly  well  acquainted  with  the  imperious 
temper  of  Alva,  thoroughly  familiar  with  his  arro- 
gance, she  was  convinced  that  his  mere  presence  at 
Brussels  with  the  king's  commission  in  his  pocket, 
whatever  might  be  its  ostensible  tenor,  really  meant 
that  she  was  to  be  practically  superseded,  however 
high-sounding  might  be  the  titles  which  she  re- 
tained. At  the  best,  she  was  to  have  a  yoke-fel- 
low in  authority — one,  too,  whose  hauteur  made 
Granvelle's  arrogance  seem  tame  in  comparison ; 
and  even  this  seemed  a  grievance,  accustomed  as 
she  had  been  to  sipping  the  sweets  of  autocratic 
power. 

Moreover,  the  governant  felt  especially  sore  at 
the  duke's  warlike  incoming  at  this  moment,  be- 
cause now,  after  years  of  toil  and  mortification  and 

•"  Analogoiis  to  the  conflict  of  authorities  just  cited,  is  the  dis- 
agreement regarding  the  x>^<^cs  at  which  Alva  was  laid  up  by  this 
sickness.  Strada  says  it  was  at  Milan.  Tom.  2,  p.  27.  Motley 
tells  us  that  it  was  at  Nice.  Vol.  2,  p.  110.  Davies  affirms  that  it 
was  at  Genoa.  Vol.  1,  p.  546.  Prescott  leads  us  to  suppose  that 
it  was  at  Asti.  Vol.  2,  p.  154.  When  such  doctors  disagree,  who 
shall  decide?  So,  too,  in  the  matter  of  the  Genoese  galleys  in 
which  Alva  sailed.  Prescott  says  these  were  thirty-six  in  num- 
der.  Vol.  2,  p.  153.  Motley  says  thirty-seven.  Vol.  2,  p.  110. 
Not  very  important  matters,  but  worth  stating  correctly,  if  given 
at  all. 


ALVA.  463 

patient  intrigue,  she  had  at  length  pacified  the 
states,  only  to  see  another  reap  the  glory  and  eat 
the  ripe  fruit  of  her  weary  planting.  Her  indigna- 
tion was  very  natural ;  nor  did  she  scruple  to  remon- 
strate with  the  king.  Repeated  and  angry  were  the 
letters  with  Avhich  she  had  freighted  the  Spanish 
mail-bags  ever  since  she  had  learned  of  Alva's  inva- 
sive preparations.  Now,  once  more,  notwithstand- 
ing previous  snubbings,  she  seized  this  opportunity 
of  the  duke's  sickness  to  despatch  another  earnest 
protest  against  the  crusade  as  at  once  a  personal 
indignity  and  an  injury  to  the  state.  "  I  am  sur- 
prised, sire,"  it  was  so  she  wrote,  "  that  j-ou  should 
have  decided  on  so  important  a  measure,  one  likely 
to  be  attended  with  such  fatal  results,  without  con- 
sulting me  and  against  my  uniform  advice.  But 
since  you  have  withdrawn  your  confidence  from  me, 
and  seeing  that  things  are  in  such  a  good  state — 
the  royal  authority  more  firmly  established  than  in 
the  time  of  Charles  V. — and  because  you  seem 
willing  to  permit  another  to  reap  the  credit  of  my 
fatigue  and  danger,  I  pray  you  to  accept  my  resig- 
nation."* 

On  the  same  day  tlie  duchess  wrote  to  Alva, 
imploring  him  to  await  the  farther  orders  of  the 
king  in  Italy  ;t  but  it  was  the  gout,  more  potent 
than  Margaret's  flurried  letters,  that  held  the  sol- 
dier at  Milan  and  at  Asti.  As  for  Philip,  he  sent 
the  seigneur  de  Bill}^,  Margaret's  envoy,  back  to 

*  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  pp.  523,  532. 
t  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  112.     Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  29. 


464:  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

Brussels  with  tins  message  :  "  Do  you  think  uo  moie 
of  resignation.  My  army  comes  into  the  Low  Coun- 
tries for  no  other  end  but  to  establish  peace."*  At 
this  same  time  Euy  Gomez  acquainted  the  regent 
with  the  recent  death  of  the  Marquis  of  Berghen, 
Montigny's  colleague  in  the  hapless  embassy  to 
Spain.t  Contemporaneous  Europe  believed  that 
his  life  was  abridged  by  the  poisoner's  bowl.ij: 

In  the  meantime,  Alva,  now  convalescent,  mus- 
tered and  reviewed  his  veterans  at  Alexandria  de 
Palla,  and  thence  marched  with  them  to  San  Am- 
brosio,  a  rendezvous  just  at  the  chilly  foot  of  the 
Italian  Alps.§  Here  there  was  another  and  a  final 
review;  after  which  the  men-at-arms  were  divided 
into  three  corps — the  first,  led  by  Alva  himself, 
started  at  once  across  the  frozen  heights  of  Mount 
Cenis  to  wind  down  through  Burgundy  and  Lor- 
raine into  the  Netherlands,  an  Al^^ine  path  trodden 
sixteen  centuries  before,  according  to  tradition,  by 
Hannibal ;  the  second  advanced  a  day  later,  with 
orders  to  bivouac  nightly  in  the  camp  occupied 
twenty-four  hours  earlier  by  the  vanguard ;  and  the 
third  in  its  turn  was  to  put  an  equal  space  of  time 
between  its  march  and  that  of  its  predecessor  ;!l  a 
treble  advance  cunningly  devised  to  jeopard  but  one 
division  at  a  time  in  the  icy  fastnesses  of  the  moun- 

«  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  27.  t  I^i^l- 

I  Ibid.  Prescott  does  not  seem  to  credit  this  rumor  ;  but  Stra- 
da refers  to  it,  saying  :  "  I  mean  not  to  affirm  it  otherwise  than  as 
a  conjecture."    Tom.  2,  p.  28. 

§  B.  de  Mendoza.    Guerras  de  los  Payses  baxos,  folio  30. 

II  B.  do  Mendoza,  ui  antea. 


ALVA.  465 

tain,  where  a  few  sturdy  chamois  hunters  might 
have  easily  surprised  and  slaughtered  an  armed 
host.  "  What  could  not  the  lion  do  if  he  were  the 
monkey  also  ?"  queries  the  Chinese  proverb.  Alva 
was  both — a  lion  in  prowess,  a  monkey  in.  finesse. 

The  invading  force  was  small,  numbering  but  fifty 
men  over  ten  thousand* — an  army  in  miniature,  but 
it  was  absolutely  23erfect  in  equipment  and  disci- 
pline. Composed  of  picked  soldiers,  men  trained 
under  the  eye  of  Alva,  and  inured  to  victory  beneath 
the  banner  of  Charles  Y.,  no  more  compact  and  vet- 
eran-like array  had  answered  to  the  roll-call  since 
the  days  of  the  old  Macedonian  phalanx.f  Hardy, 
practised,  confident,  each  man  was  a  host,  and  each 
carried  himself  with  the  air  of  a  prince.  Each  com- 
pany of  foot  was  flanked  by  a  body  of  musketeers, 
armed  with  a  weapon  now  for  the  first  time  brought 
into  field  service.  Each  of  these  was  attended  by 
a  servant,  who  bore  his  musket  for  him  on  the  march, 
and  they  were  so  richly  habited  and  so  gracefully 
arrogant,  that  all  yielded  them  the  deference  usu- 
ally paid  to  ofl&cers  alone. J 

But  the  oddest  sight  of  all  was  a  corps  of  two 
thousand  women — Italian  prostitutes,  as  regularly 
enrolled  and  drilled  as  the  men-at-arms,  whose  ap- 
pointments and  discipline  received  the  enthusiastic 
commendation  of  Brantome.§  "For  their  pres- 
ence," said  Alva,  "I  have  the  authority  of  the  Athe- 

"  Dociimentos  luetlitos,  torn.  4,  p.  382. 

t  Brantome,  Grandes  Caijitaines  eti*angers,  etc. — Due  d'Albc. 
X  Ibid.  1^  Brantome;,  id  antea 

20* 


466  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

niau  general  Ipliicrates,  who  awarded  the  prize  of 
valor  to  the  pleasure-loving  and  rapacious  soldier."* 
A  Greek  precedent  always  sufficed  for  him,  and 
though  driven  by  the  necessity  of  expedition  to 
dispense  with  artillery,  and  by  the  high  price  of 
provisions  in  the  Alps  to  reduce  his  force  to  the 
smallest  possible  number,  he  preferred  to  count  a 
few  regiments  less  rather  than  leave  behind  the 
wantons  who  gave  to  the  army  the  aspect  of  a  bac- 
chanalian procession,  contrasting  strangely  with 
the  gloomy  seriousness  and  pretended  sanctity  of 
its  aim.t 

However,  the  presence  of  the  courtesans  did  not 
relax  the  iron  discipline  of  the  troops ;  and  it  is  cer- 
tainly a  remarkable  illustration  of  the  repressive 
skill  of  Alva,  that,  throughout  his  march,  and  in  an 
age  when  soldier  and  license  were  synonyms,  no 
woman  was  insulted,  no  peasant  was  plundered,  no 
untoward  accident  occurred4 

Thus,  ill  the  pleasant  month  of  Jtine,  and  by 
short  marches,  Alva  scaled  the  Alps,  trod  over 
Savoy,  crossed  the  Spanish  corner  of  Burgundy, 
passed  through  Lorraine,  and  in  the  early' daj^s  of 
August,  entered  the  Low  Countries,  molesting  none 
and  himself  unopposed — though  the  allied  army  of 
Geneva,  called  to  arms  by  the  prayer  of  Pius  Y. 
that  Alva  should  destroy  their  city  as  a  "  nest  of 
devils  and  apostates,"§  and  a  French  army  of  obser- 

*  Cited  in  Schiller,  vol.  2,  p.  G7,  Bolin's  ed.  f  I^^id. 

I  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  31. 

§  Leti,  Vita  di  Filippe  IL,  torn.  1,  p.  489. 


ALVA.  467 

vation,  bung  on  his  skirts,  carefully  abstaining  from 
all  hostile  acts,  and  aiming  only  to  cover  their 
respective  frontiers.^' 

At  Thionville,  the  duke,  who  was  accompanied 
by  a  glittering  cortege  of  distinguished  officers — by 
Paciotti,  by  Yitelli,  by  Mandragone,  by  his  sons 
Fre'derick  and  Ferdinand  de  Toledo,t  was  met  by 
Noircames  and  Barlaiment,  who  gave  him  a  cordial 
welcome  for  themselves,  and  a  formal  one  for  Mar- 
garet.:!: Advancing  thence  towards  the  capital,  he 
was  greeted  from  time  to  time  by  numbers  of  the 
Flemish  grandees.  Among  the  rest  came  Egmont, 
as  anxious  as  the  common  herd  to  conciliate  the 
new  viceroy  by  a  show  of  friendship. 

"Behold  the  arch-heretic  !"  exclaimed  Alva  in  a 
stage  whisper  to  one  of  his  staff  officers,  as  Egmont 
came  into  his  presence.  The  Fleming  paused, 
changed  color,  and  seemed  quite  thrown  off  his  bal- 
ance. Alva,  however,  quickly  resumed  his  mask, 
and  embracing  his  illustrious  dupe,  he  laughed 
away  his  insolent  greeting  as  an  excellent  jest.§ 
But  with  all  his  caution,  he  found  it  impossible  not 
to  coin  his  thoughts  into  words  and  put  them  in 
circulation.  To  the  welcoming  congratulations  of 
the  sycophantic  grandees,  he  responded  brusquely : 
"Well,  welcome  or  not,  'tis  all  one;  here  I  am."il 

This  impudent  reception  should  have  opened 

*  Dc  Thou,  Hist,  du  Due  d'Albe.     Metereu. 

I  Documentos  Ineditos,  torn.  4.     B.  de  Meudoza. 

X  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  31.     Hoofd,  torn.  4. 

§  Meteren,  Hist,  des  Pays-Bas,  folio  53.     Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  1S2. 

ji  Metereu,  uhi  sup. 


4:68  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

Egmout's  eyes  to  the  precipice  on  whose  brink  he 
tottered ;  and  it  would,  had  he  not  been  determined 
to  be  bhnd.  Like  an  infatuated  gamester,  he  had 
decided  to  sit  out  the  unequal  and  tricky  game — to 
await  tlie  hazardous  casting  of  the  die.  According-l 
ly,  he  affected  to  regard  the  insults  of  the  Spanish 
captain  as  the  most  sportive  of  hon  mots,  presented 
him  with  a  couple  of  beautiful  horses,  the  finest  of 
his  stud  and  accompanied  him  on  the  route  to  Brus- 
sels.* Thus  it  was  that  William's  prophecy  was  ful- 
filled, and  Egmont  was  the  "  bridge  over  which  the 
Spaniards  passed  into  the  Netherlands  to  destroy 
them."  The  hero  of  St.  Quentin  sank  to  be  the  coz- 
ened tool  of  his  own  future  executioner.  "  Scrape  a 
Russian,  and  you  will  find  a  Tartar,"  said  Napoleon. 
Strip  Egmont  of  his  gilding,  and  you  see  an  idiot. 

On  the  22d  of  August,  1567,  Alva  entered  Brus- 
sels. The  streets  were  deserted,  not  a  viva  was 
shouted.t  Not  the  plague  itself  had  ever  hushed 
the  city  to  such  frightful  stillness.  Nor  was  it  in 
the  capital  alone  that  silence  reigned :  everywhere 
trade  was  suspended.  The  exodus,  enormous  before, 
was  now  ruinous.  "  Upon  the  very  rumor  of  a  for- 
eign army,"  wrote  Margaret  to  tlie  king,  "  diverse 
tradesmen  and  merchants  at  once  departed  from 
us  ;  and  now,  since  Alva  has  entered  the  states,  the 
highways  are  choked  with  fugitives — trade  flying 
because  no  money  can  bo  made  here  now,  while 
there  must  be  assessments  and  great  taxes ;  popu- 

*  Hooftl,  torn.  4,  p.  150.     Metercu,  ul  anlea 
■j-  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  1G3. 


ALVA.  469 

lation  going  out  because  men  think  these  forces  are 
come  to  be  their  executioners."* 

Alva  was  serenely  indifferent  to  the  hatred 
which  his  name  evoked.  Like  most  military  men, 
especially  in  that  age,  he  despised  a  mercantile 
community ;  and  this  led  him  to  underrate  the  race 
whom  he  had  come  to  peel  and  butcher.  "  I  have 
tamed  men  of  iron  in  my  day,"  said  he  with  a  sneer  ; 
"  shall  I  not  easily  crush  these  men  of  butter  ?"t 
He  saw  in  the  Low-Countrymen  not  an  enemy  but 
a  prey ;  and  it  was  with  a  confident  smile  that  he 
had  said  to  Philip,  "  I  will  make  treasure  flow 
from  the  Netherlands  into  Spain  in  a  stream  a  javd 
deep."$  The  speech  was  characteristic  of  the  man. 
But  has  not  some  wit  said  that  dogmatism  is  pup- 
pyism come  to  maturity  ? 

Without  pausing  .to  rearrange  his  dress,  dusty 
and  travel-stained,  Alva  hastened  to  wait  upon  the 
govern  ant.  At  the  gates  of  her  palace  an  unseemly 
7nelee  occurred,  caused  by  the  refusal  of  Margaret's 
body-guard  of  archers  to  permit  the  duke's  halber- 
diers to  enter  the  court.§  At  length,  however, 
Alva  was  admitted  to  the  audience-chamber.  His 
reception  was  freezing.  Quite  in  the  centre  of  the 
apartment,  with  Barlaiment  and  Aerschot  and  Eg- 
mont  grouped  about  her,  stood  the  regent ;  nor 
would  she  break  the  statuesque  rigidity  of  her  jMse 
by  taking  a  single  step  forward  to  meet  the  unwel- 

*  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  27.  t  Hoofd,  torn.  4,  p.  148. 

%  Cited  in  Motlej',  vol.  2,  p.  103. 

§  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  G31. 


170  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

come  duke.*  Alva  was  more  complaisant.  Doffing 
his  steel  bonnet,  lie  begged,  "  with  Castilian  but 
empty  courtesy,"  to  be  permitted  to  lay  liis  army 
and  himself  at  the  feet  of  the  sister  of  his  king.f 
Margaret,  in  recognition  of  Alva's  right  as  a  Span- 
ish grandee  to  remain  covered  even  in  the  pres- 
ence of  royalty,  insisted  upon  his  resuming  his  bon- 
net ;  after  which  a  stiff  and  formal  conversation  of 
half  an  hour's  duration  took  place,  marked  on  the 
governant's  side  by  an  affectation  of  imperial  hau- 
teur ;  on  the  duke's,  by  an  assumed  deference  which 
ill  disguised  a  contemptuous  sense  of  his  supreme 
importance.!  Throughout  the  interview,  all  re- 
mained standing.§ 

"  May  I  ask,  my  lord  duke,"  queried  the  regent, 
"  what  may  be  the  nature  and  extent  of  your  pow- 
ers?" "Eeall}',"  was  the  cool  response,  "I  do  not 
exactly  recollect.  I  will  look  over  my  papers,  and 
let  you  know  at  my  earliest  convenience."!!  Appa- 
rently, Margaret  was  unmoved  by  these  words,  for 
she  said,  "  I  commend  his  majesty's  intention ;  all 
may  be  well  in  case  peace,  newly  restored  to  the 
.  states,  be  not,  like  a  tender  plant,  spoiled  by  dig- 
ging too  deep  about  it."ir  With  this,  icy  adieux 
were  passed,  and  Alva  retired  to  his  headquarters 
at  Culemberg  House** — the  mansion  in  whose  din- 

•''  MendiYil's  Acct.  in  Docnmentos  Ineditos,  torn.  4,  p.  398. 

f  Ibid.  I  Vandervynckt,  torn.  2,  p.  53. 

§  Ibid.     Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  uhi  sup. 

II  Vandervynckt,  ut  aniea. 

IT  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  32. 

**  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1. 


ALVA.  471 

ing-hall  the  gueux  had  received  their  name  at 
Brederode's  mad  revel. 

The  day  after  this  interchange  of  empty  con- 
gratulations, Alva  had  an  official  interview  with  the 
governant  and  the  council  of  state,  at  which  he  ex- 
hibited his  commissions.  By  one  of  these  he  was 
appointed  captain-general  of  the  Netherlands,  with 
supreme  power  in  all  military  spheres.*  By  another, 
these  duties  were  enlarged  and  so  defined  as  to 
lodge  in  the  hands  of  the  captain-general  full 
authority  to  displace  and  replace  magistrates  and 
governors,  and  to  examine  into  the  causes  of  the  late 
tumults,  and  to  punish  the  participants — a  commis- 
sion which  raised  Alva  to  the  level  of  an  autocrat.f 

These  instruments  were  produced  and  inspected 
by  the  regent  in  council ;  but  the  wily  duke  kept 
a  third  and  yet  more  important  commission,  which 
expressly  invested  him  with  the  supreme  authority 
in  civil  as  well  as  in  military  affairs,  and  enjoined 
all  persons,  Margaret  included,  to  obey  the  viceroy 
as  the  king  himself,:!:  in  abeyance  ;  replying  to  the 
regent's  question,  "  Have  you  any  farther  instruc- 
tions?" "Yes,  more  than  can  be  opened  at  one 
meeting ;  but  which,  according  to  future  exigencies, 
I  shall  impart  to  your  liighness."§ 

Although   these    instructions   were    careful    to 

'"  Ibid.,  torn.  2.  Appeudix,  No.  88.  This  was  dated  Decern, 
ber  1,  15G6. 

j-  Documentos  Ineditos,  torn.  4,  f)p.  3S8-39G.  This  was  dated 
January  31,  1507. 

%  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2.  Appendix  No.  102.  This  was 
dated  on  the  1st  of  March,  15G7.  §  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  32. 


472  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

state  that  Margaret's  authority  was  to  remain 
unimpafrecl — tliat  Alva  was  merely  placed  "  in  cor- 
respondence with  his  majesty's  dear  sister  of  Par- 
ma"*— the  governant  well  knew  that  she  had  been 
superseded,  and  she  felt  esj)ecially  humiliated  by 
this  juggling  method  of  depriving  her  of  the  sceptre. 
Many  and  bitter  were  her  complaints  of  the  afiront 
put  on  her  by  the  king;  nor  was  she  at  all  carefid 
nito  whose  ears  she  poured  the  story  of  her  wrongs  : 
least  of  all  was  she  reticent  with  Philip.  "I  disclaim 
all  jealousy  of  the  extraordinary  powers  conferred 
upon  the  captain-general,"  wrote  she  to  her  royal 
brother ;  "  but  I  think,  sire,  that  you  should  have 
dismissed  me  before  depriving  me  of  honor."t 

After  the  exhibition  of  his  credentials,  Alva  pro- 
ceeded to  canton  his  troops.  The  Milanese  brigade 
was  .quartered  in  the  suburbs  of  Brussels.^:  The 
cavalry,  upwards  of  eighteen  hundred  strong,§  was 
encamped  at  a  convenient  point,  ten  leagues  from 
the  capital.ll  The  other  divisions  of  the  army  Avere 
saddled  upon  the  larger  cities  of  the  provinces — 
Antwerjj,  Ghent,  and  the  rest' — whose  authorities 
were  at  the  same  time  required  to  transfer  the  keys 
of  their  respective  municipalities  to  the  hands  of 
the  captain-general.TT 

These  preliminary  acts  revealed  the  spirit  of  the 

duke,  as  the   careless  prattle  of  a  petulant  child 

*  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  182. 

f  StracLa,  uhi  svp.  $  Meteren,  Bor.,  Prescott. 

§  Dociimentos  Ineditos,  torn.  4,  p.  382. 

II  Hist,  du  Due  d'Albe.     Meteren. 

U  Hoofd,  torn.  4,  p.  150.     Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  184. 


ALVA.  473 

reveals  family  secrets.  Aside  from  Lis  deeds,  tho 
mere  presence  of  the  man  was  ominous  of  evil. 
Was  it  not  Alva  wlio  had  advised  the  armed  inva- 
sion of  the  Netherlands?  AVas  it  not  Alva  who 
had  urged  Philip  to  seize  the  pretext  of  the  icono- 
machy  to  break  the  seals  of  the  provincial  char- 
ters— those  badges  of  the  weakness  of  his  ancestors, 
those  disgraceful  chains  upon  the  prince,  those  ^ 
safeguards  of  heresy?  Was  it  not  Alva  who  had 
advocated  the  placing  a  sharp  curb  in  the  bridled 
mouth  of  the  conquered  states  ?  And  lo  !  this  wild 
beast  in  armor  had  arrived  with  his  veteran  cohorts. 
Surely  there  was  room  for  dismal  apprehension. 


4:74  THE  DUTCH  llEFORMATION. 

f 

CHAPTEE  XXVII. 

THE   COUNCIL  OF   BLOOD. 

It  required  no  acumeu  to  understand  the  mo- 
tives wliicli  had  pushed  the  new  captain-general 
into  Brussels,  and  the  purpose  of  Iris  comiug;  both 
were  palpable  to  the  jnost  stupid  of  dullards.  The 
rooting  out  of  heresy,  the  rigid  enforcement  of  the 
Inquisition,  the  abrogation  of  the  trophied  privile- 
ges of  the  people,  the  degradation  of  the  Nether- 
lands into  satrapies,  chained  to  the  feet  of  an  alien 
and  absolute  monarch,  and  governed  by  a  junta  of 
foreigners  sitting  at  the  other  end  of  Europe,  with 
no  voice  in  their  own  affairs,  after  the  pattern  of 
Sicily  and  the  wretched  Italian  states* — such  was 
the  well-known  programme. 

To  facilitate  the  work,  Philip  had  clothed  Alva 
with  autocratic  powers ;  the  Spanish  Inquisition  had 
banned  the  provinces  at  large,  Romanists  as  well  as 
Protestants,  these  as  guilty  of  treason  by  supiue- 
ness,  those  as  traitors  by  the  commission  of  overt 
acts,t  and  the  pontiff  had  absolved  the  king  from 
his  coronation  oath:]: — sanctifying  usurpation  and 
blasphemy  and  perjury  by  a  henedicite  muttered 
from  the  mock  chair  of  St.  Peter. 

Denounced  by  the  king,  the  Low-Countrymen 

*  Confessions  of  Counsellor  Louis  del  Kio.  Cited  in  Motley, 
vol.  2,  p.  118,  note.  f  Schiller,  vol.  2,  p.  77,  Bolm's  ed. 

}  Bor.,  Hutthen,  Stuk.,  torn.  1,  bl.  6. 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  BLOOD.  ttTS 

were  held  to  have  forfeited  fill  civil  rights;  con- 
demned by  the  Inquisition,  they  were  esteemed  to 
possess  no  religious  privileges;  sentenced  by  the 
pope,  they  were  thought  to  have  parted  with  all 
hope,  with  every  claim  to  mercy  here  and  hereafter. 
Very  naturally,  Alva  considered  that  this  threefold 
reprobation  denaturalized  his  victims,  and  afforded 

him 

' '  Ample  space  and  verge  enough 
The  characters  of  hell  to  trace." 

In  all  the  backstair  whisperings  at  Madrid,  it 
had  been  regarded  as  essential  to  the  execution  of 
the  royal  plot,  that  the  leading  seigneurs  of  the 
Netherlands,  those  of  them  at  least  who  had  espous- 
ed the  liberal  cause,  whether  now  repentant  or  not, 
should  be  brought  at  the  earliest  possible  moment 
to  trial,  and  through  that  door  to  confiscation  and 
the  block,  in  order  that  at  one  fell  blow  opposition 
to  the  king's  will  might  be  punished,  and  the  citi- 
zens be  robbed  of  their  natural  leaders.*  On  the 
black  Hst  were  the  names  of  Orange,  Egmont,  Horn, 
Hoogstraaten,  St.  Aldegonde,  and  a  host  of  lesser 
luminaries  in  the  Low  Country  constellation.  To  a 
critioal  observer,  nothing  is  superficial.  "  In  what 
part  of  that  letter  did  you  discover  irresolution  ?" 
demanded  a  king  of  the  wisest  of  living  diplomats. 
"  In  the  ns  and  r/s,"  was  the  reply.  So  the  keener 
of  the  grandees  had  discovered  the  symptoms  of  a 
bloody  disease  from  their  diagnosis  of  the  days 
which  ante-dated  Alva's  march,  and  gone  out  in 

**  Confessions  of  Del  Kyo,  ut  antea. 


476  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

time;  but  many  remained,  against  the  counsel  of 
the  wiser  ones,  and  these  were  now  to  pay  the  pen- 
alty of  their  thrice-sodden  folly. 

No  sooner  had  the  duke  made  known  so  much  of 
his  commission  as  sufficed  to  give  him  the  supreme 
control ;  replaced  the  doubtful  Walloon  troops  with 
his  own  trusty  veterans ;  strung  the  keys  of  the 
larger  cities  to  his  girdle,  and  set  Paciotti,  the 
most  eminent  of  the  medijeval  engineers,  to  work  in 
constructing  new  fortresses,  than  he  proceeded  to 
arrange  for  the  arrest  of  the  doomed  nobles,  all  of 
whom  he  wished  to  cage  by  a  coiqj  de  main.  It  was 
this  consideration  which  had  inspired  his  courtes}^ 
to  Egmont — this  which  had  thus  far  shielded  that 
blinded  courtier  from  imprisonment.  Alva  had 
determined  to  make  a  decoy-duck  of  his  infatuated 
dupe. 

In  the  pursuance  of  this  plan,  the  captain-gen- 
eral, assisted  by  his  sons  and  by  Chiappiu  Yitelh, 
Gabriel  de  Terbelloni,  with  others  of  his  officers, 
kept  Egmont  occupied  by  an  incessant  round  of 
fetes  and  masquerades  and  plays,  that  the  heads- 
man's hour  might  have  time  to  ripen.*  The  count 
wearied  himself  in  this  treacherous  pleasure;  while, 
according  to  Alva's  calculation,  scores  of  nobles 
who  had  quitted  the  capital  to  watch  the  actions  of 
the  duke  at  a  safe  distance,  w;ere  completely  gulled 
by  the  courtesy  extended  to  Egmont,  and  began  to 
straggle  back  to  Brussels.f 

It  was  some  time  before  Horn  could  be  per- 
*»  Schiller,  vol.  2,  p.  74,  Bolin's  ed.  f  Ibid. 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  BLOOD.  477 

suaded  to  trust  his  person  in  the  enemy's  camp; 
but  at  length  the  numberless  flattering  and  urgent 
invitations  of  Alva,  suj)ported  by  the  assurances  of 
E2;mont,  who  undertook  that  his  friend  should  be 
no  worse  used  than  he  himself,-'  overcame  his  stub- 
born scruples,  and  he  quitted  Weert  for  the  capital.f 
Even  Hoogstraaten  set  out  for  Brussels ;  but  Alva 
mournfully  informed  the  king  that  he  "could  not 
flatter  himself  with  the  hope  of  William's  return, "J 

Meantime,  the  city  remained  sullen  and  gloomy. 
Over  its  proverbial  gaj'ety  a  "blanket  of  the  dark" 
seemed  to  have  been  thrown.  The  public  haunts 
were  deserted ;  the  places  of  amusement  were  closed ; 
only  foreign  faces  were  seen  upon  the  streets.  The 
awful  shadow  of  impending  calamity  rested  over 
the  metropolis.§  It  was  in  vain  that  Alva  strove  to 
amuse  the  burghers  and  to  dissipate  the  gloom. 
At  such  a  moment  only  fools  could  be  won  to  laugh ; 
but  among  the  laughers  were  the  cozened  grandees 
and  the  foreign  courtiers  who  buzzed  in  the  treach- 
erous sunshine  of  Culemberg-house. 

At  length  the  hour  struck.  Alva,  convinced* that 
further  delay  could  give  him  no  more  victims  but 
'might  snatch  from  his  hands  some  of  those  already 
in  his  x^ower,  sprang  the  trap.  On  the  9th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1567,  Egmont  and  Horn  were  invited  to 
wait  upon  the  captain-general  for  the  purpose  of 
chatting  over  a  plan  for  the  erection  of  a  citadel  at 

*  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  32. 

t  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  563,  564.    Meteren,  Hoofd. 

X  Cor.  de  Pliilippe  n.,  torn.  1,  p.  578.       §  Schiller,  uU  sup. 


478  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

Antwerp/^  Quitting  the  dinner-table  of  Fernando 
de  Toledo,  the  seigneurs  walked  to  the  duke's  resi- 
dence in  company.  Alva  received  them  graciousl}^ 
and  at  once  engaged  them  in  a  discussion  with  th(i 
engineer  Paciotti,  which  occupied  them  until  even- 
ing had  fallen. t  Then,  as  they  were  about  to  sep- 
arate, Egmont  was  requested  by  Sanchio  d'Avila, 
captain  of  the  duke's  halberdiers,  to  step  for  an 
instant  into  an  adjoining  apartment.  Upon  enter- 
ing the  room  he  was  asked  to  surrender  his  sword. 
Astounded  by  the  demand,  the  count  could  only 
gaze  upon  the  officer  with  open  mouth  ;  but  upon  a 
repetition  of  the  order,  he  recovered  his  composure, 
and  tendering  the  blade,  said,  "Take  it,  sir  cap- 
tain ;  it  has  rendered  the  king  some  service  in  times 
past. "I  The  illustrious  prisoner  was  at  once  sur- 
rounded by  a  company  of  Spanish  musketeers,  who 
hurried  him  into  an  upper  story  of  the  building, 
where,  in  a  chamber  hung  with  black,  barricaded, 
with  daylight  excluded,  and  dimly  lighted  by  can- 
dles,§  he  was  left  isolated  to  await  transportation 
to  a* sterner  dungeon. 

A  few  moments  after  the  arrest  of  Egmont, 
Horn,  too,  was  captured  just  as  he  was  emerging* 
from  Alva's  court-yard  into  the  street.ll  Satisfied 
of  the  futility  of  resistance,  he  calmly  yielded, 
merely  asking  if  Egmont  had  met  the  same  fate. 
"Yes,"  was   the   reply.      "'Tis   Avell,"    responded 

•--  Pontus  Payen,  MS.  f  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  124. 

t  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  33.  §  Motley,  ^tU  sup. 

II  Strada,  uhi  sup. 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  BLOOD.  479 

Horn;  "I  have  suffered  myself  to  be  guided  by 
him,  and  'tis  but  fair  that  I  should  share  his  des- 
tiny."* 

Just  previous  to  the  enactment  of  this  drama, 
Backerzeel,  Egmont's  secretary,  and  Antony  Van 
Straalen,  burgomaster  of  Antwerp,  a  friend  and 
correspondent  of  Orange,  and  one  of  the  most  pop- 
ular, as  he  was  one  of  the  wealthiest  citizens  of  the 
metropolisjt  fell  into  a  somewhat  similar  ambus- 
cade, and  were  brought  prisoners  into  Brussels.:]: 
Soon  afterwards,  Alva  had  the  residences  of  these 
gentlemen  searched  from  turret  to  foimdation  stone. 
All  the  papers  found  were  seized,  inventoried,  and 
placed  in  his  hands.§  "  Thus,"  says  Motley,  "  if 
amid  their  most  secret  communications,  or  that  of 
their  correspondents,  a  single  treasonable  thought 
should  be  lurking,  it  was  to  go  hard  but  it  might  be 
twisted  into  a  cord  strong  enough  to  strangle  them 
all."||  To  be  sure,  these  prisoners,  together  with 
most  of  their  fellow-citizens  who  were  still  at  large, 
had  received  the  double  pardon  of  the  regent  and 
of  the  king  for  whatever  offences  they  might  have 
committed.  But  had  not  Philip  called  a  notary  to 
bear  formal  witness  that  this  pardon  was  wrung 
from  him  while  under  moral  duress  ?  And  had  not 
the  sovereign  pontiff  solemnly  absolved  him  from 
all  oaths?     The  king  considered  swindling  to  be 

*  VandervjTickt,  torn.  1,  p.  223.  Documeutos  lueditos,  torn. 
4,  p.  418.  t  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  33. 

X  Hoofd,  torn.  4,  p.  150.  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  33.  Bor.,  torn.  4, 
p.  184.  §  Cor.  de  riiilippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  038. 

II  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  120. 


480  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

statesmanship ;  the  holy  father  named  perjury 
religion. 

A  fortnight  after  the  arrest,  Egmont  and  Horn 
were  conducted  to  Ghent  by  an  escort  of  three 
thousand  Spanish  infantry,  where  they  were  held 
in  rigorous  confinement  to  await  the  farce  which 
their  captor  called  a  trial.*  Happily  for  himself, 
Hoogstraaten,  already  on  the  road  to  Brussels,  had 
been  momentarily  detained  by  an  accident  at  a 
wayside  inn.  There  he  learned  the  fate  of  those 
who  had  "put  their  trust  in  princes."  As  he  had 
no  craving  for  martyrdom,  he  at  once  faced  about 
and  crossed  the  border  into  Germany,!  whence  he 
ought  not  to  have  ventured. 

Alva  was  extraordinarily  elated  by  his  success, 
and  he  at  once  wrote  out  a  gloating  account  of 
his  scientific  manoeuvres  for  Philip's  eye.  :|;  The 
king  shared  in  the  viceroy's  joy,  and  sent  him  back 
the  warmest  of  congratulatory  letters.§  Cardinal 
Granvelle,  who  was  at  this  time  in  Rome,  seemed 
less  delighted.  "  Has  the  duke  taken  Blonsieur  le 
Taciturne  ?'"  queried  he,  referring  to  Orange  by  the 
nickname  which  he  had  come  to  bear.  "Not  so," 
answered  his  informant.  The  churchman  shrugged 
his  shoulders.  "If  that  one  fish  has  escaped  the 
net,  the  duke's  draught  is  nothing  worth,"  quoth  he.ll 

Peter  Titelmann,  the  once  famous  inquisitor,  who 

''■  Meteren,  Schiller,  Hoofd. 

t  Strada,  torn.  2,  pp.  32,  33.     Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  185. 

X  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  637.  §  Ibid.,  p.  G66. 

II  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  33.     Meteren,  folio.  50. 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  BLOOD.  481 

now,  grown  old  and  infirm,  was  living  on  tlie  mem- 
ory of  liis  pious  past  and  on  the  blood-money  which 
had  repaid  his  devotion,  shared  in  Granvelle's  opin- 
ion. "  Is  wise  William  a  prisoner  ?"  asked  he  on 
hearing  of  Alva's  haul.  On  being  told  that  he  was 
not,  he  said  mournfully:  "Then  will  our  joy  be 
brief.  Woe  unto  us  for  the  wrath  to  come  from 
Germany  !"* 

The  duchess  of  Parma  bitterly  resented  the  fla- 
grant contempt  of  her  authority  manifested  by  these 
arrests,  made  without  consultation  with  her — nay, 
without  a  suspicion  on  her  part  that  they  were  to 
occur.f  But  from  the  fact  that  she  made  no  effort 
to  secure  the  release  of  the  prisoners,  nor  spoke  one 
good  word  in  their  favor,  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that 
she  quarrelled  less  with  the  deed  than  with  the 
manner  of  its  accomplishment.  However,  so  great 
was  her  indignation  that,  heedless  of  Alva's  expla- 
nation that  he  concealed  his  purpose  at  the  king's 
command,  in  order  to  save  her  from  the  odium 
which  it  might  reflect  on  \\cv,\.  she  at  one  despatched 
an  envoy  to  Madrid  to  solicit  her  dismissal  from  an 
office  whose  title  alone  she  possessed,  while  another 
had  usurped  the  sceptre.§  While  awaiting  Philip's 
response,  Margaret  absented  herself  as  much  as 
possible  from  the  council-board,  and  passed  the 
days  in  hawking  and  the  chase — sports  of  which 
the  masculine  governant  was  passionately  fond.H 

«  Cited  iu  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  130.        f  Strada,  torn.  2,  ix  34. 
J  Ibid.     Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  185.  §  Strada,  ubi  sup. 

II  Documeutos  Ineditos,  torn.  4,  p.  391). 

nutcii  Ref.  2 1 


482  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

The  consternation  caused  by  Alva's  act  was 
nnprecedented.  Men  of  all  parties  were  alarmed. 
"If  Egmont  and  Horn,  preeminent  by  position, 
active  in  suiDpressing  the  tumults,  and  Romanists 
witlial,  are  not  secure,  wlio  can  be  safe  ?"  This  was 
tlie  question  wliicli  each  white-lipped  Netherlander 
put  to  his  neighbor;  and  as  no  one  could  give  a 
satisfactory  answer,  emigration  again  rose  to  flood- 
tide;  to  the  one  hundred  thousand  refugees  who 
had  left  the  states  on  learning  of  the  duke's  armed 
invasion,  twenty  thousand  more  Avere  now  added 
by  the  panic  caused  by  the  imprisonment  of  these 
seigneurs.*  Alva  stirred  the  regent  to  renew  her 
edict  against  emigration  ;t  but  though  this  was  for- 
mally proclaimed,  though  death  was  the  well-known 
penalty  for  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  pass  the  ports, 
and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  ten  of  the  richest 
merchants  of  Tournay  had  been  seized  as  they  were 
about  to  cross  the  water  into  England,  and  pun- 
ished by  the  confiscation  of  their  estates,:]:  hundreds 
still  continued  to  slip  away,  contented  to  lose  their 
property,  if  only  they  might  save  their  lives.§ 

Among  these  later  refugees  was  an  honest  church- 
man named  Thomas  Tillius.  Convinced  of  the 
errors  of  Rome  and  spurred  by  conscience,  he  for- 
sook his  rich  abbey  of  St.  Bernard,  near  Antwerp, 
with  a  revenue  of  seventy  thousand  guildersil  jjo- 

«  Watsou,  Life  of  Philip  II. ,  p.  116.  Meteren,  Schiller,  Brandt, 
vol    1,  p.  2G0.  t  Strada,  uhl  sup.     Doc.  lued.,  uhl  sup. 

I  Strada,  uhl  siqj.  §  Ibid. 

II  Guilder,  a  Diitch  coiu  of  the  value  of  twenty  stivers,  about 
thirty-eight  cents  of  our  money. 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  BLOOD.  483 

annum,  and  fled  into  the  duchy  of  Cleves,  taking 
with  him,  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  way,  but 
four  hundred  guilders  in  coin.  Having  gained  an 
asyhim,  he  threw  off  his  frock,  married,  and  became 
a  minister  of  the  emancipated  gospel ;  first  at  Haar- 
lem, then  at  Delft,  where  he  died.* 

Alva  affected  to  care  little  for  this  exodus,  which 
impoverished  the  Low  Countries,  and  enriched 
France  and  Great  Britain.  "  They  say  many  are 
leaving  the  provinces,"  wrote  he  to  Philii^.  "  '  Tis 
hardly  worth  while  to  arrest  them.  The  repose  of 
the  nation  is  not  to  be  assured  by  beheading  those 
Avho  are  led  astray  by  others."t  So  much  for  the 
philosophy.  The  fact  was,  that  prodigious  exer- 
tions were  made  to  hold  back  would-be  outgoers. 
The  people  were  transformed  into  a  police  force  to 
catch  emigrants.  If  any  passed  the  sea,  all  were  held 
guilty  of  that  neglect  which  the  law  brands  as  fraud. 

But  the  Aaron's  sefpent  among  the  captain-gen- 
eral's designs,  was  a  settled  determination  to  en- 
slave the  Netherlands.  He  meant  to  metamorphose 
Philip  from  a  mere  duke  of  Brabant,  from  a  simple 
count  of  Flanders — the  only  titles  by  which  he  had 
a  right  to  reign  in  the  Low  Countries — into  an  irre- 
sponsible despot,  absolute  without  the  assent  of  the 
states,  minus  even  the  Dei  gratia.  He  labored  to 
inoculate  the  provinces  with  Spain.  This  was  the 
hidden  loadstone  which  always  operated  on  the 
needle  of  his  compass, 

«-  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p,  200. 

f  Corrcsp.  dc  Philippe  IT.,  tnm.  1,  p.  576. 


434:  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

Kegarding  the  charters  as  the  mischievous  source 
of  independence  in  the  Netherlands,  and  convinced 
that  an  observance  on  his  part  of  the  forms  and  cus- 
toms of  the  land  would  minister  to  the  popular  re- 
spect for  these  fundamental  laws,  the  duke  had  from 
the  outset  studiously  treated  the  honored  parch- 
ments as  invalidated  by  sedition,  and  given  the 
established  methods  of  procedure  a  contemptuous 
go-by.  He  had  akeady  snared  his  titled  prey,  and 
was  now  ready  to  make  a  quarry  of  the  nation. 
But  though  prepared  to  investigate  the  causes  of 
the  recent  troubles,  and  to  execute  the  vengeance 
of  his  king  upon  the  actors  in  that  scene,  he  would 
not  invoke  the  aid  of  the  existing  tribunals,  whose 
forms  were  too  dilatory,  whose  checks  were  too 
numerous,  whose  judges  might  prove  over-honest : 
against  all  precedent,  in  the  teeth  of  the  statutes 
"in  such  case  made  and  provided,"  he  erected  a 
tribunal  of  his  own,  unique;  unheard-of,  which  he 
called  the  "  Council  of  Troubles,"  and  to  which  he 
gave  cognizance  of  all  judicial  offences  originating 
in  the  tumults.* 

This  abhorrent  court,  which  was  speedily  nick- 
named the  "  Council  of  Blood"  by  the  citizens,  was 
a  mere  board  of  registry  for  the  formal  recording  of 
Alva's  edicts ;  it  was  a  bench,  not  of  judges,  but  of 
special  pleaders,  met  to  make  out  a  case,  not  to  sum 
up  the  testimony.  So  profound  was  the  captain- 
general's  contempt  for  law,  that  he  did  not  even 

*■  Corresxi.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  637.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  p. 
261.     Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  185.     Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  41. 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  BLOOD.  485 

deigu  to  give  this  brood  of  jackals  a  legal  cloak  bj 
procuring  for  them  letters  j)atent  from  the  king,  or 
by  himself  granting  them  commissions  ;  so  that  the 
blood-council  was  in  fact  merely  an  informal  club, 
sxercising  the  most  tremendous  functions  at  the 
verbal  bidding  of  a  satrapj-' 

This  monstrous  tribunal  was  composed  of  twelve 
judges — "the  most  learned,  upright  men,  and  of  the 
purest  lives,  to  be  found  in  the  states,"  as  Alva 
informed  his  royal  master.f  Who  were  these  me- 
diaeval Solomons?  These  immaculate  blood-suck- 
ers, what  were  their  names?  Juan  de  Vargas,  a 
S2:)anisli  legist,  an  outlaw  over  whom  two  criminal 
suits  were  hanging  in  Castile,|  was  one.  Louis  del 
Rio,  one  of  those  clever,  serviceable  knaves  whom 
troublous  times  are  sure  to  vomit  up,  was  another. 
Aremberg,  an  unscrupulous  fanatic,  was  a  third. 
Noircarmes,  smeared  with  Valenciennes  gore,  was  a 
fourth.  Barlaiment,  who,  imlike  the  French  phi- 
losopher's idea  of  an  educated  man,  "  ivas  satisfied 
to  survey  the  universe  from  his  parish  belfry,"  was 
a  fifth.  Sweep  in  half  a  dozen  absolutist  lawyers, 
men  accustomed  to  running  with  volunteer  haste  to 
do  the  dirty  work  of  "lewd  fellows  of  the  baser 
sort" — jurists  after  whose  health  thieves  asked 
before  they  began  to  steal — and  we  have  analyzed 
the  new  chamber  of  iuquisitors.§ 

=■'  Notice  sur  le  Cons,  des  Troubles,   par  M.  Gachard,   p.  7. 
Cited  by  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  137. 

I  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  576. 

i  Pfescott,  vol.  2,  p.  189. 

§  The  names  of  the  board  were  :  Count  Aremberg.  Noircarmes, 


486  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

This  precious  and  liiglily  honorable  list  of  names 
was  suggested  by  YigHus — who  had  wit  enough, 
however,  to  keep  his  own  from  the  number.-  Tlie 
vicious  activity  of  this  octogenarian,  the  wide  scope 
of  his  influence,  always  baneful,  ever  exerted  to  de- 
feat the  right,  recalls  the  criticism  upon  Lord  Eldon : 
"  No  one  ever  did  his  race  so  much  good  as  Eldon 
liveventedy\ 

The  duke's  junta  was  armed  with  tremendous 
powers;  but  he  had  managed  so  shrewdly  as  not  to 
cede  a  single  element  of  his  autocracy.  For,  as  the 
council  was  his  creature  in  its  institution,  so  its  sen- 
tences were  stillborn  unless  vivified  by  his  revision 
and  assent. :j:  Indeed,  at  the  outset  the  sittings  were 
held  at  his  residence,  and  he  presided  in  person. § 

On  the  20th  of  Sei3tember,  1567,  the  council  met 
for  the  first  time.jl  The  members  were  sworn  to 
secrecy,  pledged  to  denounce  any  of  their  number 
who  should  violate  that  oath,  made  to  affirm  their 
solemn  adherence  to  Home,  and  requested  always 
to  decide  according  to  their  convictions.T  This  cer- 
emony perfected  the  machinery  of  slaughter.  Noth- 
ing remained  but  to  collect  the  victims. 

Barlaiment,  Hadrian  Nicolai,  chancellor  of  Gueklers,  Jacol)  Mor- 
tens and  Peter  Asset,  presidents  of  Artois  and  Flanders,  Jacob 
Ilassels  and  Jolin  de  la  Porte,  coiinsellors  of  Ghent,  Louis  del 
llio,  doctor  of  theology,  John  du  Bois,  king's  advocate,  and  De  la 
Torre,  court  secretary.     Schiller,  vol.  2,  p.  79,  Bohu's  ed. 

«  Vigl.  ad  Happ.,  epist.  27  et  28. 

t  W.  Phillips,  Letters,  Speeches,  etc. 

%  Gachard,  Notice,  etc.     Cited  in  Motlej^  vol.  2,  p.  137. 

§  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  195.    Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  2G0. 

II  Gachard,  uhi  sup.  If  Ibid. 


AT  WORK.  487 

CHAPTEE    XXVIII. 

AT   WORK. 

And  now  commenced  the  most  iniquitous  and 
wholesale  persecution  which  history  records,  the 
wildest  and  most  indiscriminate  massacre  known 
among  men.  Not  the  brutal  proscriptions  of  Sjdla ; 
not  Cinna's  reckless  waste  of  human  life ;  not  Mari- 
us'  violation  of  the  rights  of  property,  can  mate  it; 
for  these  men  fought  their  way  into  Eome  after  a 
hard  struggle  as  incensed  victors,  while  Alva  in  a 
time  of  peace  sauntered  unopposed  into  the  Low 
Countries,  to  butcher  in  cold  blood.  They  were 
hot-headed,  ruthless  citizens  with  cruel  wrongs  to 
be  as  cruelly  avenged ;  he  was  a  cool,  methodical 
slaughterer,  whose  heart  was  soured  by  no  private 
griefs.  The  pencil  which  essays  to  paint  the  pic- 
ture of  his  deeds  should  be  dipped  in  the  blood  he 
spilled. 

Of  course,  the  instrument  of  the  captain-general 
in  this  work  was  the  new  tribunal ;  taking  from  his 
shoulders  a  load  of  details,  yet  vital  only  through 
the  point  of  his  pen.  The  blood-judges,  as  indif- 
ferent as  their  master  to  the  forms  of  law,  hedged 
themselves  in  with  no  set  of  subtle  rules.  Since 
their  sole  duty  was  proscription,  they  adopted  only 
such  brief,  rough  regulations  as  were  essential  to 
that  end.  It  was  certain  that  a  court  whose  juris- 
diction was  as  broad  as  the  provinces  must  have 


488  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

an  immense  pressure  of  business  ;  and  to  prevent 
disorder,  this  was  distributed  into  several  depart- 
ments, over  which  specified  judges  were  installed. 
Thus  two  of  the  twelve  were  instructed  to  devote 
themselves  to  the  collection  of  evidence  against  the 
grandees  then  in  exile — Orange,  Culemberg,  Brede- 
rode ;  while  two  others  had  charge  of  the  causes 
which  arose  within  the  states ;  and  so  on.* 

The  labors  of  the  junta  were  lightened  and  sim- 
plified by  another  arrangement.  Provincial  com- 
mittees were  appointed  and  empowered  to  try  all 
minor  causes,  and  even  to  pronounce  sentence — 
taking  care  always  to  forward  to  headquarters  min- 
utes of  their  action. t  These  processes  were  then 
revised  by  the.  twelve,  and  submitted  to  the  exam- 
ination of  Vargas  and  Del  Eio,  who  alone  Avere  em- 
powered to  vote.:|:  Even  their  decision  was  invalid 
until  endorsed  by  Alva.§  When  the  duke's  signa- 
ture was  obtained,  the  judgment  of  the  court  was 
executed.  Alva  reserved  the  final  decision  to  him- 
self, because,  as  he  frankly  told  Philip,  "Lawyers 
are  unwilling  to  decide  any  case  except  upon  the 
evidence,  while  measures  of  state  policy  are  not  to 
be  regulated  by  the  laws."il  It  is  very  probable 
that  this  consideration  had  a  tendency  to  persuade 
him  to  erect  this  illegal,  exceptional  council  on  the 
ruins  of  the  regular  tribunals. 

*  Bulletins  de  I'Academie  Eoyale  de  Belgique,  torn.  16,  part  2, 
p.  58.    Cited  in  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  191. 

t  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  192.      %  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  260.    Gaclaard. 

§  Bulletins  de  rAcademie  Eoyale  de  Belgique,  torn.  IG,  par.  2, 
p.  52,  note.  ii  ibid. 


AT  WORK.  489 

As  showing  how  httle  respect  was  paid  by  these 
judges  to  the  barest  requirements  of  justice,  it  may 
be  stated  that  a  single  document  as  often  lodged 
information  against  a  hundred  men  as  against  one ; 
and  if  these  denunciations  —  which  were  seldom 
read,  so  numerous  were  they — resulted  in  an  ad- 
verse verdict,  as  they  usually  did,  the  whole  hun- 
dred or  the  one,  as  the  case  might  be,  suffered 
death  Avithin  forty-eight  hours  after  conviction.* 
Such  was  the  method  of  procedure  of  the  Council 
of  Blood  ;  felt  to  be  especially  severe  by  the  Netli- 
erlanders,  used  to  the  fair  and  open  and  above- 
board  code  prescribed  by  their  charters :  "  No  citi- 
zen shall  be  tried  outside  of  his  own  province ;" 
"no  foreigner  shall  sit  on  the  judicial  bench."i" 
This  was  the  voice  of  the  constitutions  of  the  states. 
Alva's  bench,  on  his  mere  ijjse  dixit,  not  only  sum- 
moned men  and  women  from  every  province  befq^ro 
its  bar;  but  was  composed  of  members,  all  of  whom 
were  either  Spaniards  by  birth,  or  S23aniards  by 
the  yet  stronger  nativity  of  the  soul.  It  was  a 
copy  of  the  Inquisition  in  lay  binding.  If  it 
be  possible  to  weigh  and  adjudge  demerit,  Alva, 
inquisitor-general  of  the  Low  Countries,  was  a 
blacker  character  than  Espinosa,  inquisitor-general 
of  Spain. 

The  initial  measure  of  the  blood-judges  was  the 
issuing  a  declaration,  in  which  treason  was  so  de- 
fined as  to  make  it  a  moral  certainty  that  all  were 

•  Motley,  Yol.  2,  p.  143. 

f  Compare  Bor.,  torn.  1,  p.  19  ;  Mctereu,  torn.  1,  p.  28,  el  scq. 

21* 


4:90  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

traitors.  To  have  subscribed  or  presented  any 
petition  against  the  neAV  bishops,  the  edicts,  and 
the  Inquisition ;  to  have  suffered  or  been  privy  to 
the  exercise  of  the  reformed  rehgion  ;  to  have  neg- 
lected to  oppose  heresy  from  the  start ;  to  have 
countenanced  the  petitions  of  the  gueux,  whether 
from  fear  or  favor ;  to  have  submitted  to  the  spoH- 
ation  of  the  iconoclasts ;  to  have  said  or  thought 
that  the  Council  of  Troubles  was  obliged  to  con- 
form with  the  charters,  the  cause  of  all  the  evils 
that  had  befallen  the  nation ;  to  have  asserted  or 
insinuated  that  the  king  had  no  right  to  cancel  the 
privileges  of  the  states  if  he  thought  fit,  or  that  he 
was  not  relieved  from  all  his  oaths  and  promises  of 
•pardon — was  held  to  be  conspiracy  against  the 
divine  and  human  majesties.* 

It  was  upon  this  occasion  that  Vargas  pronounc- 
ed; his  famous  decision:  '' HcBretici faxerunt  templa, 
honi  nihil  faxerunt  contra ;  ergo  clehent  omnes  fcitihu- 
lare^'\ — language  which  is  an  equal  crime  against 
syntax  and  humanity.  For  the  benefit  of  Vargas, 
who  was  ignorant  of  the  vernacular  tongue,  the 
proceedings  of  the  court  were  conducted  in  Latin, 
then  the  common  language  of  learned  Europe.  Yet 
even  in  the  Latin  he  used  expressions  "  that  would 
have  made  Quintilian  stare  and  gasp,"  and,  as  in 
the   instance  cited,  frequently  got  intoxicated  on 

'■*  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  260. 

f  The  heretics  have  broken  open  the  churches  ;  the  orthodox 
did  nothing  to  hinder:  therefore  they  ought  all  to  be  hung  together. 
Vide  Brandt,  uhi  sup. 


AT  WORK.  491 

paragraphs  of  his  own  brewing ;  at  which  the  witty 
citizens  laughed,  feehng  half  avenged  of  their 
wrongs  by  the  opportunity  of  ridicule  afforded 
them  by  the  shockingly  bad  taste  of  their  persecu- 
tor in  the  tongue  of  the  old  Komaus. 

Under  this  ruling  of  Vargas,  the  inquisitors  and 
the  commissioners — the  "couple"  in  this  hunt — at 
once  went  to  work.  All  who  were  known  to  have 
participated  in  the  tumults  were  seized  a  V ouirance.'^ 
Then,  with  terrible  industry,  the  less  well-defin- 
ed offenders  were  ferreted  out.  Suspicion  was 
considered  to  be  a  synonym  for  proof.  Circum- 
stances the  most  innocent  were  twisted  awry  until 
they  disclosed  unthought-of  guilt.  Had  this  man 
been  thought  to  favor  reform  ?  waste  no  time  in  the 
farther  investigation  of  his  case,  but  proceed  to 
sentence  the  atrocious  wretch.  Had  this  woman's 
cousin  been  connected  with  the  gueux?  let  the  rack 
be  her  cross-examiner.  Worst  of  all,  secret  denun- 
ciations abounded,  informations  from  all  sources 
being  invited,  nay  commanded;  so  that  the  woes  of 
the  wretched  victims  were  inflamed  to  frenzy  by  a 
suspicion  that  their  undoing  might  have  been  work- 
ed by  the  deposition  of  parents,  wives,  husbands, 
children,  i" 

With  thrifty  prevision,  the  captain-general  had 
covered  the  land  with  multitudinous  prisons  against 
this  day  of  wrath ;:]:  but  notwithstanding  this,  and 
in  spite  of  the  frightful  draughts  of  the  executioner, 

*  HoofcT,  torn.  4,  p.  157,  et  seq.     Metereii.     Gachaicl. 

t  Ibid.  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  192.     %  Schiller,  v.  2,  p.  81,  Bohu's  cd. 


i92  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

the  gates  of  death  were  kept  full  of  sufferers.  No 
distinctions  of  age,  sex,  and  condition  were  made. 
Maidens  in  the  May  of  youth ;  boys  not  yet  freed 
from  parental  control ;  men  in  middle  age  ;  women 
in  the  autumn  of  life  ;  patriarchs  hoary  with  three 
score  years  and  ten — none  were  spared.* 

Nimbly  worked  the  deft  fingers  of  the  local 
magistrates,  assorting  and  filing  informations. 
Swiftly  and  incessantly  rode  the  couriers  who  bore 
this  freight  of  death  to  be  inspected  by  the  junta  at 
Brussels.  Busy  were  the  rack  of  the  inquisitor  and 
the  axe  of  the  wearied  headsman. 

The  sittings  of  the  blood-judges  often  lasted 
seven  hours  in  a  day,t  so  indefatigable  were  these 
honorable  men.  During  the  first  three  months, 
Alva  presided  in  person ;  but  afterwards,  being 
pressed  by  other  business,  and  feeling  that  his  con- 
fidence would  not  be  abused,  he  inducted  Vargas 
into  his  seat  at  the  board,  retaining,  however,  his 
revisory  powers. |  As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  reser- 
vation amounted  to  nothing,  for  Vargas  understood 
the  wishes  of  the  duke  so  well,  and  was  so  ener- 
getic, unwearied,  and  unscrupulous  that  his  sen- 
tences were  always  confirmed.§  "  Tliis  man  at 
least  is  j^outhfully  active  in  your  service,  sire," 
wrote  the  delighted  captain-general  to  Philip  of 
this  congenial  sj)irit.|l 

*  Brandt,  vol.  1.  p.  £61.     Hoofd,  torn.  4.    Watsou,  p.  118. 
f  Bulletins  do  TAcademie  Eoj'ale  de  Belgique,  torn.  16,  par.  2, 
p.  57.  t  I1^i^^-     Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  195. 

§  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  260.     ||  Cor.  do  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  583. 


AT  WORK.  493 

To  be  sure,  men  of  all  parties  united  to  hoot  the 
iniquitous  character  of  this  "  wise  and  upright 
judge."*  Unquestionably,  he  was  an  escaped  crim- 
inal under  Spanish  law.f  There  was  no  denying 
that  he  had  violated  an  orphan  girl  whose  guardian 
he  was.!  But  what  then?  "  Because  thou  art  vir- 
tuous shall  there  be  no  more  cakes  and  ale?"  In 
Alva's  estimation,  these  peccadilloes  were  condoned 
by  his  present  usefulness.  To  cut  away  the  gan- 
grene of  heresy,  it  was  necessary  to  have  a  knife 
like  Yargas.§  The  captain-general  was  not  the 
man  to  sacrifice  a  serviceable  tool  to  a  sentiment. 

But  though  the  duke  patronized  Vargas  on 
account  of  his  acquaintance  with  that  code  of  by- 
laws which  constitutes  a  useful  rogue,  several  of  his 
brother  judges  were  embittered  by  his  arrogant 
behavior;  not  that  they  deprecated  his  cruelties, 
but  because  his  prominence  belittled  their  impor- 
tance. Accordiugly,  seven  or  eight  of  them,  in  imi- 
tation of  Alva,  habitually  absented  themselves  from 
the  sittings  of  the  court — a  procedure  the  sole  eflect 
of  which  was  to  enhance  the  influence  of  Vargas,  Del 
Rio,  Blasere,  and  Hassels,  the  four  who  remained.il 
"  They  made,"  as  one  of  the  discontented  judges 
complained  to  Granvelle,  "  but  one  head  under  a 
single  cap."T[ 

As  illustrating  the  careless  ferocity  of  this  quar- 

'•>  Schiller,  vol.  2,  p.  79. 

f  Hoofd,  torn.  4,  p.  152.    Meteren,  folio  5-i. 

J  Ibid.  §  Brandt,  %ibl  snp.     Davies,  vol.  1,  p.  550. 

II  Levesque,  Memoires  de  Granvelle,  torn.  2.  pp.  91.       ^  Ibid. 


494  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

tette,  it  is  related  of  Hassels,  who  liad  been  attor- 
ney-general of  Ghent  under  Charles  V.,  that  he  was 
in  the  habit  of  dozing  away  his  hours  at  the  coun- 
cil-table, paying  no  attention  whatever  to  the  cause 
on  trial,  and  ignorant  often  of  the  name  of  the  pris- 
oner. Nevertheless,  when  his  opinion  was  demand- 
ed, he  would  start  from  his  dog-nap  and  shout  with 
great  fervor :  "  To  the  gallows  with  him !  to  the 
gallows  with  him !""  so  much  a  matter  of  course 
w'as  conviction. 

Vargas  was  equally  careless.  On  one  occasion 
a-  case  was  called  up  for  trial  after  the  execution  of 
the  prisoner.  A  cursory  review  of  the  papers  showed 
him  to  have  been  innocent.  "Never  mind,"  said 
Vargas  with  a  cheerful  smile,  "  it  will  be  all  the 
better  for  him  when  he  takes  his  trial  in  the  other 

world."t 

Before  these  brutes,  "half  monkey  and  half 
tiger,"  as  Voltaire  «aid  of  the  judges  of  Calais,  the 
citizens  of  the  states  continued  to  be  dragged  in 
crowds.  There  was  no  cessation  in  the  slaughter. 
There  was  no  gradation  of  offences.  Confiscation 
of  estates  succeeded  by  the  death  of  the  culprit — 
this  was  the  common  form,:];  Hanging,  beheading, 
quartering,  and  burning  human  beings   were  the 

*  "Ad  patibulum,  ad  patibulum!"  Hoofd,  torn.  14,  p.  59-4. 
Brandt,  Aiibe'ri.  In  the  year  1578,  this  wretch  himself  met  the 
fate  he  had  been  so  ready  to  award  to  others,  being  hnug  to  a  tree 
in  that  year  by  the  people  of  Ghent,  then  in  insurrection.  Vide 
Mcteren,  folio  161. 

t  Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  191.     Brandt,  vol.  1. 

t  Meteren,  folio  49,  pasaim.     Hoofd,  torn.  4,  ixtsaiin.     Schiller 


AT  WOEK.  495 

ordinary  occupations  of  a  thousand  laborers.*  Ev- 
ery day  produced  fresli  objects  of  pity  and  mourn- 
ing. The  noise  of  the  bloody  passing-bell  was  con- 
tinually heard,  telling  as  it  tolled  of  the  martyrdom 
of  this  one's  cousin  and  of  that  one's  wife,  and  ring- 
ing dismal  peals  in  the  hearts  of  the  survivors.t 
The  land  was  crowded  with  gibbets;  the  trees  by 
the  wayside  were  loaded  with  corpses.  Statues  in 
"the  streets  of  towns,  private  door-posts,  fences  in 
the  fields,  all  had  their  quota  of  mutilated  carcass- 
es.|  The  very  atmosphere  was  impregnated  with 
the  awful  odor  of  the  grave.  The  living  walked 
among  the  dead  as  in  a  charnel-house.§  Humanity 
seemed  to  have  suffered  shipwreck,  the  hulk  being 
abandoned  to  those  friohtful  underwriters,  the 
worms. 

While  the  blood-judges  were  thus  torturing  the 
Netherlands,  France,  almost  equally  unhappy,  was 
torn  by  civil  warll  —  one  half  of-  the  nation  striving 
to  cut  the  throats  of  the  other  half  in  the  name  of 
religion.  The  Komanists  led  by  the  Guises,  the 
Huguenots  officered  by  Conde  and  Coligny— these 
were  the  disputants ;  and  the  question  was  whether 
there  were  such  things  as  rights  of  conscience.  The 
Guises  said  No ;  the  Protestant  chiefs  said  Yes.  As 
very  many  of  those  Low-Countrymen  who  had  been 
driven  into  exile  by  the  events  which  succeeded  the 

<>  Schiller,  vol.  2,  p.  81,  Bolm's  edit. 

f  J3raudt,  vol.  1,  p.  261.     Hoofd,  torn.  4,  p.  153. 

t  Ibid.     Histoire  des  Martyrs,  p.  449.  §  Ibid. 

ij  Do  Thou.     Hist,  of  the  Huguenots,  Am.  Tract  Soc,  18GG 


496  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

iconomacliy,  or  had  become  fugitives  under  Alva's 
rule,  said  Yes,  too,  they  volunteered  to  aid  Cond^ 
and  Coligny  in  maintaining  that  belief,  doing  yeo- 
manly  service  in  innumerable  warlike  bouts. 

One  day  the  French  ambassador  at  Brussels 
waited  upon  the  duchess  of  Parma  to  complain  of 
these  campaigners."  Her  highness  promptly  issued 
an  edict  denouncing  as  outlaws  and  punishing  with 
confiscation  of  their  goods  all  absentees  without 
permission. t  A  little  later,  this  act  was  supple- 
mented by  another  which  forbade  any  communica- 
tion to  be  held  with  the  exiles  under  the  same  pen- 
alty.:!; Nevertheless,  the  fugitives  neither  deserted 
Conde  nor  returned  to  their  homes.  Whereupon 
Catharine  de'  Medici,  hard  pressed  by  the  Hugue- 
nots, urged  Alva  to  send  some  of  his  veterans  to 
prop  her  falling  cause.  "  If  you  do  not,"  added 
she,  "I  must  succumb;  and  I  disculpato  myself  in 
advance  before  God  and  Christian  princes  for  the 
peace  I  shall  be  forced  to  make."§ 

Alva  wrote  this  reply,  finely  illustrative  of  the 
nature  of  the  man:  "Make  no  coijcessions ;  conces- 
sions must  be  either  spiritual  or  temporal.  If  sjm-- 
itual,  they  Avould  be  opposed  to  God's  prerogatives; 
if  temporal,  to  the  rights  of  the  king.  Better  to 
reign  over  a  ruined  land,  which  is  true  to  the  divine 
and  human  majesties,  than  over  one  left  unharmed 
for  the  benefit  of  the  devil  and  his  followers,  the 
heretics. "II 

*  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  34.  f  Ibid.     Davies,  vol.  1,  p.  554. 

X  Ibid.        §  Cor.  de  Phil.  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  GOi.        ||  Ibid.,  p.  G09. 


AT  WORK.  497 

Having  spokeu,  the  captain-general  proceeded 
to  act.  In  the  last  days  of  November,  1567,  after 
innumerable  masses  chanted  through  three  days,* 
Count  Aremberg  left  Cambray  at  the  head  of  thirty- 
five  hundred  men-at-arms  to  reinforce  the  Guises. 
His  expedition  was  successful;  the  Romanists  won 
the  fight.  But  the  queen-mother  of  France  signed 
a  treaty  Avith  Cond6  which  angered  Alva,  and  Arem- 
berg was  soon  ordered  to  report  at  Brussels  for 
home  service.t 

In  the  meantime,  the  duchess  of  Parma,  more 
and  more  nettled  by  her  position  at  Brussels,  which 
was  "  a  remarkable  combination  of  the  fiction  of 
i:)ower  with  the  reality  of  political  nonentity,"  as 
Grote  says  of  the  state  of  modern  British  sover- 
eigns, never  ceased  importuning  Philip  for  per- 
mission to  resign  the  apocryphal  honors  of  the 
regency.  At  length,  the  royal  procrastinator,  per- 
suaded that  Margaret  had  served  out  her  useful- 
ness and  was  now  an  obstacle  in  the  pathway  of 
the  captain-general,  condescended  to  heed  her 
prayer.  Early  in  November,  1567,  despatches  were 
received  from  Spain,  in  which  Ruy  Gomez,  factotum 
at  Madrid,  assured  her  highness  that  the  king  con- 
sented, though  reluctantly,  to  her  retirement.!  A 
few  days  later,  Philip  himself  penned  half  a  dozen 
cold,  formal  *lines  to  his  sister,  acknowledging  his 
obhgations  in  set  phrase,  and  promising  to  in- 
crease her  pension  from  eight  thousand  florins  a 

•-■  Strada,  uhi  sup.  \  Ibid. ,  p.  35.     Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  20G. 

J  Dociunentos  Ineditos,  torn.  4,  p.  481. 


498  THE  DUTCH  KEFORMATION. 

3^ear,  the  present  amount,  to  fourteen  thousand 
florins.* 

Margaret  at  once  prepared  to  quit  the  Nether- 
lands. She  had  requested  the  king  to  permit  her  to 
convene  the  states-general  for  the  purpose  of  deliv- 
ering in  their  presence  a  farewell  address,  in  un- 
conscious imitation  of  the  emperor's  abdication;  but 
Philip,  whom  the  sternest  necessity  had  not  sufficed 
to  compel  to  convoke  that  detested  body,  returned 
a  prompt,  curt  veto.f  Her  highness  was  conse- 
quently obliged  to  announce  the  dissolution  of  her 
official  connection  with  the  provinces  in  a  public 
letter.:}:  The  duke  of  Alva  was  at  the  same  time 
proclaimed  as  her  successor  in  the  regency.§ 

The  states  listened  to  this  news  in  trembling 
dismay.  Time  was  when  the  duchess  had  been 
regarded  as  the  personification  of  severity;  but 
since  Alva's  butcheries  commenced,  the  masses  had 
learned  to  look  back  upon  her  rule  as  quite  mild 
and  pacific.  Now  she  was  considered  to  be  the  sole 
breakwater  between  terra  firma  and  the  devouring 
flood  of  the  captain-general.  This  feeling  cropped 
out  in  multitudinous  expressions  of  regret  for  her 
departure,  in  a  hearty  request  that  she  might  soon 
return  to  resume  her  robes  of  office,  and  in  the  yet 
more  touching  form  of  silver-sorrow — Brabant  vo- 
ting her  highness  the  snug  sum  of  twenty-five  thou- 

*  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  '2,  Appendix,  No.  119. 

t  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  210.     Schiller,  vol.  2,  p.  84,  Bohu's  ed. 

X  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  3G. 

§  Ibid.,  p.  35.     Cor.  de  Philippe  IL,  torn.  2,  p.  680. 


AT  WOEK.  499 

sand  florins,  Flanders  eYincing  its  esteem  by  a  vote 
of  the  still  more  comfortable  snm  of  thirty  thousand 
florins.* 

Having  nothing  now  to  lose  by  frankness, 
cheered  by  these  tokens  of  the  national  good-will, 
and  perhaps  touched  by  the  sufferings  of  the  citi- 
zens— for,  after  all,  she  was  a  woman — Margaret, 
on  the  eve  of  her  departure,  addressed  Philip  in 
these  words,  showing  that,  when  not  biased  by  self- 
interest,  she  could  comprehend  the  principles  of 
statesmanship :  "  Sire,  the  subjects  of  these  provin- 
ces cannot  be  terrified  into  obedience.  They  who 
so  advise  you,  do  it — I  wish  I  may  be  in  error — to 
the  ruin  of  your  name  and  of  the  states,  and  will 
occasion  fresh  commotions  and  final  desolation. 
Wherefore,  as  mercy  is  a  divine  attribute,  so,  too, 
be  you  merciful,  desiring  rather  the  repentance  than 
the  punishment  of  those  who  ei'r."t 

The  advice  was  good ;  but  a  king  like  Philip  was 
Httle  likely  to  be  much  afiected  by  it. 

In  the  latter  days  of  December,  1567,  after  a 
reign  of  eight  years,:t^  her  highness  bade  the  Neth- 
erlands farewell.  Escorted  by  Alva  to  the  borders 
of  Brabant,  she  was  accompanied  thence  by  Count 
Mansfeld  and  a  suite  of  Flemish  gentlemen  into  the 
heart  of  Germany.§  Margaret  made  a  much  better 
figure  in  these  closing  days,  than  she  had  in  the 
opening  months  of  her  residence  at  Brussels.     Her 

■"'  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  6. 

t  Stradii,  torn.  2,  pp.  3G,  37.  t  Fi'om  1559  to  15G7. 

§  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  212. 


500  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

exit  was  touching;  for  she  left  leal  and  mourning 
hearts  behind  her.  On  the  dismal  backgroimd  of 
Alva,  she  went  out  robed  in  light— almost  angelic, 
in  the  estimation  of  her  contemporaries.  But  the 
standpoint  of  Alva  is  not  a  proper  one  from  which 
to  view  the  merits  of  the  governant's  politics.  Pos- 
terity, uninfluenced  by  the  proximity  of  her  suc- 
cessor, sees  with  clearer  e^-es ;  and  the  verdict  which 
the  muse  of  history  pronounces  is,  that  the  bastard 
daughter  of  Charles  Y.  was  a  woman  weak,  treach- 
erous, and  cruel — qualities,  perhaps,  which  might 
be  looked  for  in  a  pupil  of  Ignatius  Loyola. 

Possessed  now  of  the  title  as  well  as  the  author- 
ity of  governor,  and  freed  from  the  presence  of 
Margaret,  who  might  criticise,  even  though  she 
were  powerless  to  curb  his  actions,  Alva  assumed 
the  tone  and  exercised  the  authority  of  an  irrespon- 
sible despot.  He  assumed  his  honors,  and  com- 
menced the  new  year  with  a  procedure  against 
Orange.  On  the  19th  of  January,  1568,  William, 
Louis  of  Nassau,  Count  Culemb^rg,  and  the  rest  of 
the  grandees  were  cited  by  the  blood-judges  to  ap- 
pear before  their  bar  within  twenty-eight  days  after 
the  date  of  the  citation,  to  answer  to  an  indictment 
for  treason,  under  pain  of  the  confiscation  of  their 
estates  with  perpetual  banishment.* 

Of  course,  neither  Orange  nor  his  friends  were 
besotted  enough  to  make  their  appearance  before 
the  illustrious  Vargas,  skilful  Del  Eio,  and  sleej)y 

"~'  Archives  cle  la  Maison   d'Orange-Nassau,  torn.    3,  j).    119. 
Documentos  lueditos,  torn.  4,  p.  428,  et  seq. 


AT  WOEK.  501 

Hassels.  Bat  the  prince,  addressing  the  procura- 
tor-general in  reply  to  the  summons,  pleaded  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Council  of  Troubles,  claiming 
that,  as  a  knight  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  he  could 
only  be  tried  by  his  peers,  the  knights,  solemnly 
convened,  with  the  sanction  of  at  least  six  of  the 
brothers,  and  under  the  superintendence  of  Philip, 
sitting  as  grand-master."'^"  The  retort  was  cautious; 
for  William  had  no  desire  to  precipitate  events,  sure 
that  Alva  would  do  that;  and  it  was  technical — that 
the  summons  was  illegal  and  an  outrage. 

Alva  did  put  himself  as  indisputably  in  the  wrong 
as  the  prince  had  foreseen  he  would ;  for,  galled  by 
the  contemptuous  tone  of  his  antagonist,  and  hound- 
ed on  by  Granvelle,t  he  seized  William's  eldest  son, 
Philip,  count  of  Buren,  a  lad  of  thirteen,  who  was  a 
student  at  Louvain,  and  in  violation  of  time-hon- 
ored franchises  which  exempted  undergraduates 
from  arrest,  no  matter  upon  what  pretext,  sent  him 
a  prisoner  into  Spain,:j:  thinking  to  keep  a  hold 
upon  the  father  through  his  anxiety  for  the  safety 
of  his  heir. 

--•  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  222,  ei  seq.    Auberi,  Hist,  de  Hollande,  p.  25. 

f  Corresj).  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  701. 

t  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  42.  Vaudervjnckt,  torn.  2,  p.  261.  The 
boy  was  detained  in  Spain  twenty-eight  years,  and  trained  up 
in  the  strictest  school  of  Eomanism.  When  at  length,  in  1595,  he 
visited  the  Netherlands,  he  was  a  complete  Spaniard— gloomy. 
Jesuitical,  denationalized.  Dying  in  1615,  at  Brussels,  his  brother 
Maurice  succeeded  to  his  titles,  and  inherited  the  Orange-Nassau 
estates,  as  he  had  from  infancy  possessed  the  heroic  qualities  of 
their  great  blood.  Vide  Lives  of  the  Princes  of  Orange— Philip, 
William  of  Nassau. 


502  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

This  kidnapping  stirred  wide-spread  reproba- 
tion. William  formally  protested  against  it  as  in 
palpable  conflict  witli  the  charter-law  of  the  states.* 
A  deputation  of  the  college  dons  went  up  to  Brus- 
sels to  remonstrate  with  Yargas  on  this  insult  to 
their  privileges.  That  eminent  jurisconsult  dis- 
missed them  with  contempt.  "  Non  curamus  vestros 
'privilegios"\  exclaimed  he ;  and  the  sentence  has 
been  admired  for  its  Latinity  for  three  hundred 
years.  What  cared  Alva  for  the  franchises  of  the 
provinces  ?  Was  not  the  nation  a  mass  of  convicts? 
Were  not  the  states  a  vast  prison-house,  of  which 
he  was  the  keeper  and  his  sword  the  "key  ? 

While  the  kidnapping  of  the  count  of  Buren  was 
the  topi-c  of  common  but  whispered  conversation, 
news  came  from  Spain  which  fanned  the  excitement 
to  a  redder  flame ;  it  was  rumored  that  Philip  had 
imprisoned  his  son  and  the  heir  to  his  throne,  Don 
Carlos ;  and  it  was  asserted  that  Montigny  had  been 
arrested  for  high  treason.:]:  For  once  Dame  Humor 
hawked  the  truth.  Don  Carlos  and  Montigny  were 
upon  the  king's  red  list.  Don  Carlos  had  excited 
the  jealousy,  Montigny  had  provoked  the  wrath,  of  a 
monarch  who  could  not  pronounce  the  word  forgive- 
ness; therefore,  one  was  soon  to  fall,  as  some  say, 
beneath  the  dagger  of  his  own  father  ;§  the  other  by 
the  hand  of  a  secret  executioneril  —  making  a  double 

*  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  202.  f  Vanclervjiickt,  uhi  sup. 

J  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  42.     Docnmeutos  lueditos,  torn.  4,  p.  52" 
§  Lloronte,  Hist,  de  I'liiquisition,  p.  171,  el  seq.    Cabrera,  Fili 
Segiindo,  lib.  7,  cap.  22. 

II  Docnmento,s  lueditos,  torn.  4,  p.  5G0,  d  seq. 


AT  WORK.  503 

tragedy,  wilder  than  any  of  which  romaucists  ever 
dreamed. 

But  the  Netherlands  needed  not  to  await  the 
opening  of  the  foreign  budget  to  "  sup  full  of  hor- 
rors." Through  all  these  months  the  frightful  cru- 
elties of  the  blood-judges  were  continued.  Every 
day  the  executions  took  a  wider  sweep.  "  I  would 
have  every  man  feel  that  any  day  his  house  may 
fall  about  his  ears,"*  wrote  Alva  to  the  hing.  Of 
this  benevolent  wish  he  made  a  fact.  Men  of  all 
creeds  and  of  none  felt  equally  insecure.  The  Eo- 
manists  themselves,  the  most  sturdy  and  devoted 
of  them,  shuddered  and  rubbed  their  necks,  to  be 
sure  that  their  heads  still  rested  upon  their  shoul- 
ders as  they  glanced  towards  Egmont's  prison  at 
Ghent.  "  The  fury  of  the  persecution  spreads  such 
horror  throughout  the  nation,"  said  Orange  at  the 
time,  "  that  thousands,  and  among  them  some  of  the 
principal  papists,  have  fled  the  country  where  tyr- 
anny is  directed  against  all."t 

The  blood-judges  flooded  the  land  with  cita- 
tions ;  but  so  certainly  did  conviction  follow  an 
appearance  at  their  bar,  that  few  responded,  while 
such  as  did  not  were  condemned  to  exile  and  to  suf- 
fer the  confiscation  of  their  estates  for  contumacy ; 
or  if  caught,  they  were  beheaded  without  trial..! 
Those  who,  strong  in  iuno«cnce,  ventured  to  brave 
an    examination,    were    inevitably    doomed. §      In 

*  Corresp.  de  PhilipiDe  II. ,  torn.  2,  p.  i. 

f  Corre.sp.  de  Guillaume  le  Taciturue,  torn.  3,  p.  14. 

X  Da\des,  vol.  1,  p.  552.     Schiller.  §  Ibid. 


504  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

batches  of  forty,  fifty,  and  eyen  a  Imndred,  men 
women  and  cliildren  were  led  out  to  indiscrimi- 
nate death.  On  one  occasion  ninety-five  miscellane- 
neous  individuals,  collected  from  various  parts  of 
Flanders,  were  butchered  in  company.*  At  another 
time  forty-six  of  the  citizens  of  Malines  were  decap- 
itated.f  On  the  4th  of  January,  1568,  eighty-four 
persons,  charged  with  participating  in  the  tumults, 
were  executed  togetlier  in  the  public  square  at  Va- 
lenciennes4 

Or,  if  you  will  have  some  individual  instances, 
take  these,  culled  at  haphazard  from  the  mass: 
"Wilham  Bardes,  an  old  man  of  seventy,  and  an 
ex-magistrate  of  Amsterdam,  was  accused  upon 
uncertain  evidence  based  on  inuendoes,  of  having 
encouraged  the  guciix.  He  was  arrested,  racked, 
and  whipped  with  rods  for  this  atrocious  offence — of 
which  it  seems  he  was  not  guilty,  for  he  was  acquit- 
ted after  a  punishment  which  was  so  severe  that  he 
became  an  idiot.§ 

One  of  this  man's  fellow-townsmen,  Peter  de 
"Witt,  was  beheaded  because,  during  a  commotion  at 
Amsterdam,  he  had  persuaded  a  rioter  not  to  shoot 
one  of  the  magistrates  —  which  was  regarded  as 
proof  that  he  had  influence  with  the  rebels.il 

In  1566,  in  the  heat  of  the  iconomachy,  a  certain 
woman  named  Madame  Juriaen  had  smitten  a  wood- 

«■  Meteren,  folio  45.     Hoofd,  torn.  4,  p.  157.  f  I^"^- 

%  Bulletins  de  I'Academie  Eoj-ale  de  Belgique,  torn.  16,  i^ar.  2, 
p.  02.  §  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  2G3. 

II  Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  183. 


AT  WOEK.  505 

image  of  the  Madonna  witli  her  shpper — an  action 
which  her  maid,  who  witnessed  it,  did  not  denounce. 
For  this  crime  both  were  drowned  by  the  hangman 
in  a  hogshead  of  water  placed  upon  the  scaffold.* 

These  are  simple  instances.  Multiply  this  indi- 
vidual agony  by  tliree  millions,  and  that  into  all 
the  relations  of  husband  and  wife,  of  father  and 
child,  and  that  again  b}'  the  continuance  of  months; 
then  count,  if  possible,  the  pulse-beat  of  this  fever- 
ish horror. 

Innumerable  as  were  the  victims,  Alva  was 
always  striving  to  invent  more  rapid  processes  of 
destruction.  At  the  close  of  the  carnival  of  1568, 
he  made  a  notable  haul.  As  that  was  a  season  of 
wine-bibbing  and  jollity,  he  calculated  on  arresting 
an  immense  number  of  persons  overcome  by  the 
wassail.  Happily  the  scheme  leaked  out,  and  many 
of  the  doomed  ones  fled ;  but  upwards  of  five  hun- 
dred burghers  were  dragged  from  their  beds  to  the 
block.t 

The  vast  majority  of  all  these  sufferers  were 
Protestant  preachers  and  laymen — men  easily  ap- 
prehended, because  they  were  too  honest  to  deny 
their  faith.  For  offenders  of  this  class  no  punish- 
ment was  sufficiently  dreadful — the  gibbet,  the  rack, 
drowning,  the  stake,  all  Avere  invoked.:}:  These  mar- 
tyrs, obscure  men,  who  "  built  not  fame,  but  god- 
like souls,"  endured  their  pangs  with  indomitable 

-  Er.iildt ;  cited  in  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  145. 
f  liranclt,  uU  sup.     Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2.    Appen- 
dix, p.  GCO.  f  Reidauus,  Annales,  p.  fi. 
nutcii  K.r                              22 


506  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

courage.*  They  lifted  up  tlieir  eyes  to  heaven,  and 
cared  little  for  what  persecution  could  do  unto 
them,  paying  scant  attention  to  the  jeers  of  the  yile 
mob  and  to  the  denunciation  of  the  blood-judges  as 
law-breakers;  for  they  were  solaced  by  conscience, 
which  makes  the  weakest  strong,  and  they  heard  in 
their  sovds  the  approving  echo  of  the  law  of  laws. 
On  the  hearts  of  such  men  cruelty  itself  breaks  all 
its  teeth. 

When  it  was  seen  with  what  constancy  and  alac- 
rity these  victims  suffered,  never  ceasing  to  pray  for 
their  tormentors,  and  to  give  God  the  glory,  con- 
fessing their  faith  in  the  midst  of  the  flames,  Alva 
had  a  machine  invented  for  the  purpose  of  silencing 
such  dangerous  preachers.  The  tip  of  each  suffer- 
er's tongue  was  seared  with  a  red-hot  iron,  and  then 
while  thus  swollen  compressed  between  two  pieces 
of  flat  metal  screwed  fast  together.  Thus  secured, 
the  tongue  would  wriggle  about  with  the  pain  of 
burning,  yielding  a  hollow  sound  much  like  the 
tyrant  of  Sicily's  bra^ien  bell,  the  contrivance  of 
Periilus,  and  which  was  first  experienced  by  the 
inventor  himself.t 

Once,  at  an  auto  dafe  of  these  tongue-tied  mar- 
tyrs, a  friar  in  the  crowd  exclaimed :  "  Hark  how 
they  sing!  should  they  not  be  made  to  dance  also?"| 

Alva  had  promised  the  king  to  make  treasure 
Ifctw  from  the  Netherlands  into  Sj^ain  in  a  stream  a 

yard  wide.     With  an  eye  to  the  fulfilment  of  this 

* 

«  Eeidanus,  Annales,  p.  G.    Brant,  vol.  1,  p.  2G0,  et  seq. 
t  Brandt,  vol.  1.  p.  275,  J  Ibid. 


AT  WOEK.  507 

promise,  lie  especially  directed  the  blood-judges  to 
ascertain  tlie  wealth  of  the  suspected.*  The  hint 
"was  acted  on.  As  poverty  was  no  protection,  so 
wealth  was  an  unpardonable  crime.  Many  a  rich 
citizen,  convicted  of  a  hundred  thousand  florins, 
found  himself  tied  to  a  horse's  tail,  and  so  dragged 
without  trial  to  the  gallows.f  The  estates  of  absen- 
tees without  leave  had  long  since  been  declared  to 
have  escheated  to  the  crown.  From  these  snap- 
judgments  there  was  no  appeal,  though  the  mis- 
chief worked  was  incalculable,  since  it  affected  a 
host  of  others  besides  those  directly  interested — 
such  as  innocent  creditors,  to  satisfy  whose  claims 
no  allotment  was  made,  hospitals,  eleemosynary 
institutions,  widows,  and  orphans,  who  were  by 
knavish  evasions  deprived  of  the  sources  of  their 
income — the  purses  of  the  rich. J 

Moreover,  though  these  wholesale  proscriptions 
sufficed  to  ruin  trade  and  to  depopulate  the  towns — 
in  Ghent  half  the  houses  are  said  to  have  stood 
empty§ — they  did  not  even  pay  the  expenses  of 
Alva's  administration,  to  say  nothing  of  that  stream 
of  treasure  which  was  to  have  flowed  into  Spain. |i 
The  duke  was  constantly  embarrassed.  More  than 
once  he  was  obliged  to  beg  a  loan  from  Philip.l 
By  the  most  shame -faced  extortion,  by  the  most 

S5  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  221. 

t  Meteren,  folio  50.     Cited  in  jMotley,  vol.  2,  p.  159. 

t  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  2G1. 

§  Vaudervynckt,  torn.  2,  p.  247. 

II  Prescott,  uhi  sup.,  p.  230,  et  seq. 

ir  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  toiu  1,  p.  590. 


508  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

open  robbery,  despotism  could  not  pay  its  way, 
even  with  the  coffers  of  the  Indies  of  Europe  at  its 
command.  Yet  aforetime  fair  taxation,  with  the 
sums  voted,  as  occasion  called,  by  the  states-gene- 
ral, had  kept  the  sovereign  in  funds.  Surely  hon- 
esty is  the  best  jDoHcy. 

However,  this  blunderer  in  finance  mistook 
bloodthirstiness  for  statesmanship,  and  he  was  too 
thick-skulled  to  be  convinced  even  by  the  teachings 
of  experience.  Accordingly,  he  went  on  assailing 
the  most  sacred  rights  of  individuals,  enforcing  his 
arbitrary  will  even  in  the  circle  of  domestic  life. 
Hitherto  the  reformers  had  strengthened  their  party 
by  intermarriages  with  the  most  influential  families 
in  the  states,  "  I  will  scoop  out  the  spring  which 
feeds  that  stream,"  said  the  duke ;  and  he  issued  an 
edict  forbidding  all  Netherlanders,  of  whatever 
rank  or  office,  to  marry  without  his  prior  permis- 
sion, under  penalty  of  death  and  the  confiscation  of 
property* — an  act  of  grievous  and  unheard-of  tyr- 
anny. A  little  later,  the  hated  decrees  of  the 
Council  of  Trent  were  imposed  upon  the  Low 
Countries  by  the  "I  say  so"  of  this  enterprising 
satrap,t  whose  strength,  however,  consisted  in  the 
fact  that  he  always  represented  his  master's  will. 

Such  searching  despotism  was  certain  to  engen- 
der evil.  It  had  already  transformed  the  naturally 
jovial,  boisterous,  and  out-spoken  Netherlander  into 
a  sullen,  moody,  and  dispirited  conspirator,  brood- 

*  Schiller,  vol.  2,  p.  80,  Eohn's  ed. 
t  Brandt,  vol.  l,p.  2G(i. 


AT  WOEK.  509 

iug  over  the  memory  of  his  violated  cliarters.  In- 
deed, at  this  very  time  the  extensive  and  tangled 
forests  of  West  Flanders  were  filled  with  outlaws 
bereaved  of  kindred  and  of  country  and  fanaticized 
Ly  their  wrongs,  who  were  banded  together  for  the 
purpose  of  waging  an  unsparing  guerilla  war  upon 
the  oppressor."  Sallying  from  their  untamed  cov- 
erts at  unexpected  moments,  these  "  wild  beg- 
gars"— gueux  sauvages,  as  they  were  named — car- 
ried dismay  and  death  into  all  habitations  known 
to  be  unfriendly  to  their  mystic  brotherhood.  They 
esteemed  the  monasteries  and  ecclesiastics  to  be 
the  primal  causes  of  their  woes  ;  consequently  they 
let  slix?  no  opportunity  to  sack  the  religious  houses, 
and  never  passed  by  a  chance  to  rob,  maltreat,  and 
maim  the  Koman  clergy.  Many  were  the  convents 
whose  plate  and  wine  and  game  they  confiscated ; 
many  were  the  priests  whose  ears  they  cropped  and 
whose  noses  they  slit.  Sometimes,  borrowing  Alva's 
tactics,  they  dragged  monks  to  forest  scaffolds  at 
the  tails  of  their  horses — i)leading  in  justification 
of  these  deeds  the  lex  talionis.  The  duke  attempted 
to  bridle  the  excesses  of  the  freebooters  by  making 
each  parish  responsible  for  the  safety  of  its  clergy ; 
but  under  this  arrangement  the  highways  became 
unsafe  for  any  priest  to  tread.  Whereupon  Alva 
sent  some  men-at-arms  to  hunt  them  out ;  and  by 
these  veterans  the  wild  beggars  were  for  a  time 
suppressed.! 

*  Vandervyuckt.     Braudt.  uh'i  sup.     Grotius. 

t  Vandervyuckt,  torn.  2,  p.  450.     Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  225. 


510  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

While  this  tragical  comedy  was  being  enacted 
in  the  forests  of  West  Flanders,  the  Netherland 
masses  were  calling  upon  the  prince  of  Orange, 
since  the  imprisonment  of  Egmont  the  acknowl- 
edged chieftain  of  the  states,  to  intervene  in  their 
behalf  with  the  armed  hand.^    "William  was  willing 

' '  to  take 
Occasion  by  the  hand;  and  make 
The  bounds  of  freedom  wider  j'et." 

He  only  doubted  the  success  of  an  immediate  ris- 
ing, fearing  that  the  time  was  not  quite  ripe.  How- 
ever, the  people  clamored  and  the  exiles  argued 
until  he  professed  his  willingness  to  take  the  field ; 
and  in  his  case  it  was  known  that  the  paper  cur- 
rency of  profession  would  be  redeemed  by  the 
minted  gold  of  practice.  With  Orange,  to  resolve 
was  to  act,  and  he  began  to  enroll  volunteers.  The 
tap  of  liberty's  recruiting-drum  was  heard.  The 
hour  was  at  hand  when  the  senseless  mediaeval  can- 
non were  to  think,  when  the  newly-invented  mus- 
kets were  to  be  loaded  with  ideas.  War  itself 
seemed  to  "  smooth  its  wrinkled  front "  as  it  took 
the  championship  of  such  a  cause. 

*  Archives  de  la  Maisou  d'Orauge-Nassau,  Supplement,  p.  87. 


LIBERTY'S  DRUM-TAP.  511 

CHAPTER    XXIX. 

LIBEETY'S    DRUM-TAP. 

Some  one  has  said  that  it  is  as  good  for  men  as 
for  beasts  to  be  turned  out  to  grass  occasionally. 
Rest  is  a  honey  to  be  sipped — not  gluttonously,  but 
for  refreshment.  Apparently,  William  of  Orange 
thought  that  he  had  earned  a  title  to  this  recreative 
beatitude ;  for  though  he  had  now  been  a  refugee 
above  a  twelvemonth,  he  continued  to  reside  at 
Dillenberg  Castle,  and  seemed  engrossed  by  the 
enjoyment  of  the  charming  ruralities  of  Nassau. 

However,  exile  is  not  conducive  to  peace  of 
mind.  Although  the  self-centred  and  reticent  prince 
made  few  confidants,  content  to  elaborate  his  plans 
in  the  quiet  council-chamber  of  his  own  soul,  it  was 
more  than  suspected  that  neither  he  nor  his  illus- 
trious following  had  passed  into  Germany  to  enjo}' 
a  life  of  indolence.  Simulated  acquiescence  might 
be  the  policy  of  these  men  :  it  was  well  known  that 
it  could  not  be  their  intention  to  submit  to  outlawry 
without  a  struggle  for  the  retention  of  their  rights. 

Those  observers  who  held  these  views  were  cor- 
rect. Orange  especially,  behind  that  imperturba- 
bility which  masked  his  purpose,  was  restless  and 
unhappy.  At  home  though  he  was  in  Nassau,  sur- 
rounded by  kith  and  kin,  and  lapped  in  luxury,  the 
;;reat-hearted    statesman    could   not   feel    at   ease 


512  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

while  every  Netherland  breeze  that  swept  over  the 
ancient  stronghold  of  his  race  was  heavy  with  the 
shrieks  of  the  tortured,  and  with  the  death-cries  of 
martyrs.  That  placid  selfishness,  that  covert  infi- 
delity called  optimism  was  not  numbered  among 
the  tenets  of  his  creed ;  and  he  was  aware  that 
Alva's  rule  ought  not  to  claim  submission.  But  he 
also  knew — none  better — that  unless  prefaced  by 
all  just  concessions,  by  the  trial  of  every  fair  means 
to  keep  the  peace,  a  sanguinary  appeal  to  the  God 
of  battles  was  a  crime  against  humanity — that  war, 
a  confession  that  culture  and  religion  were  in  some 
sort  a  failure,  needed  the  most  momentous  and  sol- 
emn justification. 

Conscience  is  virtue's  forum.  To  satisfy  his 
conscience,  William,  though  hopeless  of  success, 
determined  to  exhaust  all  peaceful  methods  of  re- 
dressing the  wrongs  of  the  provinces  before  invo- 
king the  stern  arbitrament  of  the  sword.  Accord- 
ingly, he  moved  the  magistrates  of  Antwerp,  whose 
manner  from  the  moment  of  Alva's  arrival  at  Brus- 
sels had  been  excessively  obsequious,  to  interpose 
in  favor  of  several  of  theu-  fellow-townsmen  who  had 
been  illegally  imprisoned.  This  they  did  "with 
bated  breath  and  whispered  humbleness."  "  Well, 
well,"  retorted  the  governor-general  in  a  tone  which 
made  the  burghers  shiver,  "I  am  amazed  that 
there  should  still  be  men  in  Antwerp  so  bold  and 
impudent  as  to  dare  to  plead  with  me  for  mercy  to 
heretics.  Have  a  care  for  the  future,  else  I  will 
hang  you  all  for  an  examj^le.     Know  this,  that  his 


LIBEETY'S  DRUM-TAP.  513 

majesty  will  speedily  sweeji  these  territories  as 
clean  as  the  palm  of  my  Land,  if  that  be  necessary 
to  extirpate  heresy."* 

Kebuffed  through  the  magistrates,  Orange  next 
employed  the  august  intercession  of  the  German 
emperor,  Maximilian.  Early  in  March,  1568,  Max- 
imilian addressed  a  letter  to  Philip,  in  the  name  of 
the  electors  of  the  empire,  in  which,  after  intima- 
ting that  the  Netherlands  had  a  right,  as  members 
of  the  Germanic  body,  to  demand  justice  in  the 
spirit  of  their  charters,  he  warned  his  royal  cousin 
that,  without  a  cessation  of  the  cruelties  enacted 
by  Alva,  it  would  be  impossible  to  restrain  the 
Protestant  princes  of  Germany  from  a  combination 
which  might  deprive  him  of  every  acre  of  land  in  . 
the  Low  Countries.f 

Philip's  purpose  was  not  to  be  shaken;  but  he 
condescended  to  vindicate  his  conduct.  "What  I 
have  done,"  wrote  he  in  reply  to  Maximilian,  "has 
been  for  the  welfare  of  the  provinces  and  for  the 
defence  of  the  holy  faith.  Nor  would  I  do  other- 
wise, though  I  should  risk  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Netherlands — no,  though  the  world  should  fall  in 
ruins  around  me."| 

This  was  decisive.  Before  such  a  declaration, 
diplomacy  stood  disarmed.  An  incentive  to  war, 
this  double  failure  was  also  William's  justification 
for  it.     The  prince  felt  that  now  duty  as  well  as 

"-■  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  205.     Watson,  Life  of  Philip  II.,  p.  119. 
t  Cor.  de  Philippe  IL,  torn.  2,  p.  15. 
t  Corrcsp.  du  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  27. 
22* 


514  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

inclination  bade  liim  "storm  tlie  liouse  of  fame," 
that  religion  and  liberty  might 

' '  Sit  on  no  precarious  throne, 
Nor  borrow  leave  to  be." 

Orange  knew  the  frightful  risk  which  war  necessi- 
tated. Yet  it  was  with  the  calm  conviction  of  a 
statesman,  not  with  the  reckless  desperation  of  a 
political  gamester,  that  he  prepared  to  stake  wealth, 
reputation,  family,  life  itself,  upon  the  hazardous 
die  of  battle. 

When  the  prince  sat  down  to  count  up  the 
chanees  of  his  success,  he  could  not  fail  to  acknowl- 
edge that  the  odds  were  greatly  against  him.  Alva 
was  the  most  experienced  captain  in  Europe.  Both 
the  Indies  were  his  treasure-house.  He  was  already 
entrenched  in  the  Netherlands.  Behind  him  stood 
the  king,  clothed  in  a  "divine  right"  which  the  medi- 
aeval masses  were  not  sufficiently  enlightjned  to  rid- 
icule. The  engineering  skill  of  Paciotti  had  already 
strongly  fortified  the  frontier  towns.  If  the  Span- 
ish army  was  small,  it  was  composed  of  veterans, 
completely  (equipped,  and  formed  to  be  the  nucleus 
of  a  larger  force,  which  might  be  recruited  in  a  week. 

Orange,  on  his  part,  was  a  tyro  in  war  when 
compared  with  Alva.  The  jjrivate  contributions  of 
half-ruined  refugees  must  form  his  exchequer.  It 
was  his  part  to  assail.  No  "  divine  right "  was  sui> 
posed  to  hallow  his  Quixotism ;  no  skilful  engineers 
were  in  his  pay;  no  veterans  were  to  assemble  be- 
neath his  banner ;  and  yet  the  statesman-soldier  did 
not  hesitate.     Evidently  the  captain  of  revolution- 


LIBERTY'S  DEUM-TAP.  515 

ary  France  did  not  inherit  the  idea  that  "  God  sides 
with  the  strongest  battalions"  from  the  hberator  of 
Hohand. 

But  after  all,  William  was  not  so  weak  as  ho 
seemed  on  the  first  look.  All  generous  minds  were 
sure  to  be  his  allies ;  all  Protestant  purses  were  his 
in  such  a  cause.  Christian  Europe  was  his  recruit- 
ing ground.  The  fanaticism  of  the  persecutor  work- 
ed in  his  behalf.  All  whom  the  Reformation  had 
emancipated,  all  whom  the  Inquisition  had  men- 
aced, were  his  from  sympath}-.  The  Netherlands 
themselves,  if  he  could  reach  them,  would  yield  him 
both  2nen  and  means;  for  states  like  these  act  and 
endure  with  gigantic  energy  whenever  pressing 
emergencies  call  forth  their  powers,  and  a  skilful 
and  provident  administration  elicits  their  resour- 
ces— when  conscience  arms  and  genius  shows  the 
way. 

Strengthened  by  some  such  reflections  as  these, 
and  imploring  God's  aid,  the  heroic  refugee  began 
to  weave  the  web  of  his  policy.  Not  Philip  himself 
could  mate  him  in  industrious  subtlety;  while  to 
that  he  added  the  higher  qualities  of  prescience 
and  tact  and  management — a  genius  for  all  work. 
Never  before  had  he  labored  as  he  labored  now. 
Swift,  secret,  incapable  of  fatigue,  this  powerful  and 
patient  intellect  sped  to  and  fro,  disentangling  the 
perplexed  skein  where  all  seemed  so  hopelessly  con- 
fused, and  gradually  unfolding  broad  schemes  of  a 
symmetrical  and  regenerated  polity.* 

«  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  182. 


516  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

William's  chief  anxiety  at  this  hour  was  the  ob- 
taining foreign  countenance;  for  he  saw  that,  scat- 
tered and  peeled  as  the  refugees  were,  it  would  be 
impossible  for  them  to  take  the  initial  steps  tow- 
ards success  without  the  active  good-will  and  sup- 
port of  outside  powers.  .  Assistance  and  recogni- 
tion— these  were  what  the  good  cause  required ;  and 
his  painstaking  statesmanship  had  conciliated  wide- 
spread respect  for  the  spirit  and  the  prospects  of 
the  Netherland  opposition  to  Philip  II.  At  the 
English  court  no  foreigner  stood  as  well  with  the 
maiden  queen  as  did  the  nascent  liberator."  Among 
the  Huguenots,  no  name  was  more  frequently  upon 
all  lips  than  that  of  the  sworn  friend  of  Coligny.f 
In  Germany,  the  prince  was  peerless.l 

So  wisely  had  Orange  managed  that,  ere  any 
overt  act  was  committed,  Protestant  England,  Hu- 
guenot France,  and  reformed  Germany  had  all, 
more  or  less  openl}^,  promised  to  support  their 
brothers  in  the  Low  Countries.§  England  was 
prompted  to  do  this,  because  William  had  persuad- 
ed Elizabeth  that  Great  Britain  was  bound  to  act 
to  the  Reformation  the  part  which  Philip *played 
towards  the  Romanist  reaction.  The  Huguenots 
were  incited,  by  the  ties  of  a  common  creed  and  a 
kindred  interest,  to  crijjple  Spain.  The  German 
princes  were  kindled  by  the  reflection  that  Alva's 

-  Motley,  ut  aniea.  t  De  Thou,  torn.  6,  p.  36. 

J  Meteren,  folio  57.     Motley,  uU  sup. 

§  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  227.     Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  103,  d  seq.     Watsou, 
p.  123. 


LIBERTY'S  DRUM-TAP.  517 

rule  would  ruiu  the  lowlaucl  cities,  with  whose  trade 
the  prosperity  of  their  towns  was  inseparably  con- 
nected; by  the  fact  that  the  Netherlanders  were 
their  co-religionists ;  and  by  a  fear  that  when  King 
Philip  had  completed  the  subjection  of  the  lower 
provinces,  he  would  employ  his  veterans  against  the 
liberties  of  Upper  Germany — an  adjacent  and  most 
inviting  field,*  The  diplomat  who  could  play  so 
cunningly  on  all  these  chords,  awakening  such  vari- 
ous responses,  might  safely  be  considered  a  danger- 
ous opponent  even  by  the  Machiavellis  of  the  Span- 
ish cabinet  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

Unwittingly,  Philip  himself  had  aided  Orange 
by  his  haughty  refusal  of  Maximilian's  proffered 
mediation.  So  bitter  was  the  anger  of  the  smaller 
Germanic  potentates,  that  they  did  not  deign  to 
conceal  their  sympathy  for  the  Netherlands  ;  while 
the  count  palatine  of  the  Khine,  the  duke  of  Wir- 
temberg,  and  the  landgrave  of  Hesse  announced 
their  purpose  to  support  WiUiam  in  the  fieldi' — to 
all  which  breaches  of  neutrality  the  emperor  was 
deaf,  dumb,  and  blind  from  pique. 

In  these  days  the  brother  of  Orange,  Count 
Louis  of  Nassau,  was  the  most  active  and  service- 
able of  his  supporters.  As  William  was  styled  the 
brain,  so  Louis  was  called  the  stout  right  arm  of 
the  revolt.^  This  knight-errant  had  long  fretted  at 
his  enforced  inactivity.     Now  that  the  hour  had 

■"•  Watson,  iibi  sup.     Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  237. 

+  Watsou,  p.  123.     Metereu,  Hooftl.    Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  237. 

t  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  183. 


518  THE  DUTCH  KEFORMATION. 

struck  for  resistance  to  religions  tj'ranny,  ke  re- 
membered Lis  Genevan  training  and  was  happy. 
Every  word  he  spoke  smelt  of  gunpowder. 

On  the  6th  of  April,  1568,  the  prince  of  Orange 
invested  Count  Louis  with  authority  to  enroll  and 
equip  an  army  for  service  against  Alva.  Ho  based 
the  right  to  do  this  upon  somewhat  peculiar 
ground — fidelity  to  the  king.  The  fiction  of  loyalty, 
the  idea  that  the  monarch  could  do  no  wrong,  but 
that  it  Avas  his  counsellors  who  were  to  be  chastised 
for  whatever  ills  occurred;  all  this  was  craftily 
maintained,  for  William  knew  the  value  of  having 
the  old  forms  upon  his  side.  This  explains  the 
phraseology  of  the  commission,  which  ran  thus: 
"  To  show  our  love  for  the  king  and  his  hereditary 
provinces;  to  prevent  the  desolation  which  hangs 
over  the  states  by  the  ferocity  of  the  Spaniards ;  to 
maintain  the  privileges  sworn  to  by  his  present 
majesty  and  by  his  predecessors;  to  prevent  the 
extirpation  of  the  pure  word  and  service  of  God  by 
the  edicts;  to  save  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
land  from  abject  slavery — we  have  requested  our 
dearly  beloved  brother  Louis  Nassau  to  recruit  as 
many  men-at-arms  as  he  may  deem  fit."* 

Under  this  commission — and  duplicates  of  it 
had  been  granted  to  Hoogstraateu,  Van  der  Berg, 
and  the  restf — Count  Louis  and  his  friends  began 
at  once  to  solicit  volunteers  and  to  enroll  mercena- 
ries. But  now,  as  always  in  such  undertakings,  the 
patriots  were  sadly  hampered  by  want  of  money. 
*  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  233,  d  scq.  f  Ibid.,  p.  234. 


LIBERTY'S  DRUM-TAP.  519 

Two  hundred  tliousaud  florins,  at  the  very  least, 
were  necessary  to  the  getting  an  army  on  its  feet  ;* 
much  more  woukl  be  required  to  fight  out  a  cam- 
paign. Where  was  the  Mexico,  where  tlie  Peru  to 
supj^ly  this  sum  ? 

The  precious  personal  effects  of  the  prince  of 
Orange  were  the  Golconda  whence  much  of  it  Avas 
extracted.  William  pawned  his  jewels,  sent  his 
plate  to  the  mint,  sold  his  tapestry,  parted  with  his 
furniture,!  and  still  had  not  enough;  for  "  the  orna- 
ments of  a  palace "  as  an  old  chronicler  reminds 
us,  "yield  but  little  for  the  necessities  of  war.":}: 
But  this  princely  generosity  provoked  emulation. 
Count  John  of  Nassau  mortgaged  his  estates  in  aid 
of  the  good  cause. §  Count  Louis  threw  his  quota 
into  the  general  fund.  Culemberg,  Hoogstraaten, 
Van  der  Berg,  and  the  rest  contributed  their  share, 
until  one  hundred  thousand  florins  were  raised  from 
the  donations  of  these  refugee  seigneurs,  all  of 
whom  were  half-bankrupted  by  outlaAvry.il 

Nor  were  the  grandees  the  sole  donors.  The 
Protestants  of  Antwerp,  of  Haarlem,  of  Leyden,  and 
of  others  of  the  Low  Country  cities,  contributed 
towards  the  achievement  of  their  emancipation ; 
and  the  refugee  merchants  in  England  laid  their 

*  Areliives  de  la  Maisou  d'Orauge-Nassau.     Supplement,  p.  S8, 

f  Hoofd,  torn.  5,  13.  1G3.     Keidauus,  Anuales,  p.  6. 

X  Eeidanus,  uhl  sup.  ,  §  Hoofd,  uhi  sup. 

II  William  coutributed  50,000  florins,  Culemberg  30,000,  Van 
der  Berg  30,000,  Hoogstraaten  30,000,  the  dowager  countess  of 
Horn  10,000,  Louis  Nassau  10,000,  and  others  in  less  proportion. 
FiJe  Villar's  confession  in  Corresp.  de  Philiijpc  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  757. 


520  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

gifts  upon  the  altar.*  In  this  way  another  hundred 
thousand  ilorms  wore  jDOured  into  the  lean  exche- 
quer of  revolt.'!" 

With  tliese  moneys,  the  outcome  of  much  gen- 
erous self-sacrifice,  an  irregular  and  incongruous 
army  was  levied — free  lances,  enthusiasts,  veterans, 
and  raw  recruits  ranged  side  by  side  in  the  gro- 
tesque ranks.:]^  These  sudden  levies  of  peaceful 
husbandmen  and  careless  mercenaries,  how  were 
they  to  Avithstand  the  terrible  onset  of  Alva's  ma- 
chine-like cohorts?  To  human  eyes,  the  matching 
of  those  against  these,  was  like  bombarding  Gib- 
raltar with  lumps  of  trembling  jelly.  Yet  it  was 
with  these,  and  such  as  these,  that  the  patriots 
were  obliged  to  fight. 

By  the  middle  of  April,  1568,  this  preliminary 
work  of  raising  money  and  enrolUng  soldiers  was 
done,§  and  as  well  done  as  might  be,  if  the  circum- 
stances are  considered.  It  only  remained  to  enter 
the  Netherlands  sword  in  hand.  Orange  had  de- 
cided upon  a  tripartite  invasion,  with  the  twofold 
purpose  of  distracting  the  attention  of  the  gover- 
nor-general and  of  inviting  a  general  rising  in  the 
states.!!  Louis  Nassau  at  the  head  of  a  force,  partly 
Flemish  but  chiefly  German,  was  to  j)lant  the  stand- 
ard of  revolt  in  the  northern  provinces  of  Gronin- 
gen  and  Friesland — the  immemorial  home  of  the 

*  Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  164.-  Villar's  Coufessiou,  nU  sup. 
t  Ibid.    Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  237. 

t  Prescott,  ubl  siqj.  §  Metcrcn,  Hoofd,  Bor. 

Ij  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  4G. 


LIBERTY'S  DRUM-TAP.  521 

spirit  of  independence.*  Hoogstraaten,  accom- 
panied by  numbers  of  the  banished  seigneurs,  was 
to  enter  the  provinces  through  the  gates  of  Maes- 
tricht  and  scour  the  land  between  the  rivers  Meuse 
and  Ilhine.t  A  corps  of  Huguenots,  under  the 
seigneur  de  Cocqueville,  was  to  master  Artois,  and 
thence  to  beat  up  Alva's  southern  quarters.'!  Orange 
held  himself  in  reserve  in  the  duchy  of  Cleves,  that 
he  might  complete  the  organization  of  his  force, 
not  3'et  ready  for  action,  and  that  he  might  be  pre- 
pared to  support  whatever  division  should  call  for 
aid.§ 

Such  was  the  plan  of  campaign  adopted  by  the 
patriot  chiefs  —  a  comprehensive  scheme  which 
bears  unmistakably  the  impress  of  William's  astute 
intellect. 

Towards  the  latter  part  of  April,  the  seigneur  de 
Villars,  who  had  replaced  Hoogstraaten,  crossed 
the  frontiers  of  Juliers  with  a  following  of  three 
thousand  men.  Alva,  who  was  never  to  be  caught 
napping,  promptly  despatched  Don  Sanclio  d'Avila 
with  sixteen  hundred  veterans  to  parry  the  assault. 
Forty-eight  hours  later,  De  Villars  was  a  prisoner, 
his  troops  either  stiff  in  death  or  scattered  in  wild 
rout.ll 

De  Cocqueville  fared  no  better.  Taking  the 
field  a  month  later  than  De  Villars,  he  crossed  the 

'C-  Mendoza,  Comment.,  folio  39.     Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  233,  et  seq. 
■f  Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  1G4.     Mendoza  and  Bor.,  id  antea. 
t  Ibid.  §  Ibid. 

II  De  Thou,  Hist.  Uuiverselle,  torn.  5,  p.  443.    Mendoza,  uhi  sup. 


522  THE  DUTCH  KEFORMATION. 

Frencli  border  into  the  bailiwick  of  Hesdin,  in  Ar- 
'tois,  with  a  muster  twenty-five  hundred  strong. 
Here,  the  count  de  Eoeulx  met  him,  and  buffeted 
him  back  over  the  frontier.  On  the  18th  of  July, 
Mareschal  de  Coss6,  governor  of  Picardy,  came 
upon  the  rabble  rout  at  the  village  of  St.  Yalery, 
and  dealt  De  Cocqueville  the  finishing  blow.* 

Those  who  were  captured  in  these  abortive  ex- 
peditions neither  expected  nor  received  mercy.  De 
Cocqueville  was  carried  to  Paris  and  beheaded  by 
Charles  IX.,  in  requital  of  the  assistance  recently 
rendered  him  by  Aremberg.t  Whatever  Nether- 
landers  were  taken  with  that  hapless  gentleman  were 
handed  over  to  the  Spanish  headsman  at  Brussels.^ 
De  Yillars'  head  had  fallen  ere  the  effort  of  De 
Cocqueville  w^as  made.§ 

In  the  meantime,  Louis  Nassau  had  entered 
Groningen.  The  Frenchman  in  league , with  Alva, 
and  triumphant  on  the  southern  border ;  the  Span- 
iard flushed  with  success  in  the  middle  provinces ; 
the  patriots  in  arms  and  advancing  in  the  north — 
such  was  the  political  situation  on  the  1st  of  May, 
1568. 

Crossing  Groningen  at  his  leisure,  Count  Louis 
paused  from  time  to  time,  to  set  up  his  standard 
and  to  invite  the  cooperation  of  the  sj'mpathetic 
masses.     Upon  one  side  of  his  banner  the  worcTs 

*  De  Thou,  Hist.  Universelle,  torn.  5,  p.  443.  Mencloza,  uhi  svp. 
Eor.,  torn.  4,  p.  234.     Strada,  torn.  2,  pp.  46,  47.  • 

t  Strada,  torn.  2,  pp.  46,  47.  J  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  238. 

§  De  Cocqueville  took  the  field  near  the  end  of  June.  Villuis 
was  executed  on  the  2d  of  June. 


LIBEKTY'S  DRUM-TAP.  523 

"Now  or  Never"  were  emblazoned,  and  on  the 
other  the  device  was,  "Freedom  for  Fatherkind 
and  Libert}^  of  Conscience  "''^ -- mottoes  which 
awakened  the  enthnsiasm  of  the  hardy  Dutchmen, 
and  attracted  hundreds  of  valiant  but  ill-armed  and 
undisciplined  rustics  to  the  liberal  army. 

On  the  western  w^olds  of  Frisia,  the  stronghold 
of  Wedde,  a  residence  of  Count  Aremberg,  stadt- 
holder  of  the  province,  was  surprised.f  Thence 
Nassau  pushed  on  to  Appingedam,  on  the  tide- 
waters of  the  Dollart,  a  bay  created  by  an  inunda- 
tion which  had  swallowed  thirty-three  villages  at  a 
gulp.:!:  Piesting  here  for  a  space,  the  patriot  cap- 
tain improved  that  opportunity  to  lay  the  neigh- 
boring city  of  Groningen  under  contribution.  The 
prudent  burghers,  anxious  to  please  Nassau  and 
not  to  anger  Alva,  refused  to  admit  the  count's 
men-at-arms,  but  bought  off  for  a  time  the  menaced 
assault  by  a  present  of  good  Datch  guilders  ;§ 
which  came  timely,  for  Nassau's  mercenaries  were 
already  mutinous. 11  Ere  Count  Louis  resumed  his 
march,  Adolphus  Nassau,  a  younger  brother  of  his 
devoted  house,  rode  into  camp  at  the  head  of  three 
hundred  cavaliers,  a  much-needed  and  very  wel- 
come reinforcement.TF 

While  rebellion  was  thus  making  headway,  Alva, 
who  had  been  apprized  of  the  new  peril  by  lieuten- 

*  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  2G7.  t  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  18G. 

%  Strada,  uhi  sup.  §  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  235. 
II  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p,  242. 

^  Mendoza,  Comeutarios,  folio  4G.  Bor.,  uhi  sup. 


524:  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

aut-governor  GroesLeck  of  Fiiesland,  was  prepar- 
ing to  cope  with  it.  "  Be  you  not  taken  napping, 
seigneur  stadtliolder,"  wrote  lie  to  Groesbeck  on 
the  30tli  of  April ;  "  but  keep  your  eyes  well  open 
until  the  arrival  of  succor,  which  is  on  the  wa3^"* 

This  done,  Aremberg,  who  had  just  returned 
from  France,  was  ordered  to  set  out  for  the  north 
without  pause.  "  Your  own  regiment,  some  squad- 
rons of  cavalry,  and  Braccamonte's  Sardinian  legion 
shall  follow  3'ou  with  all  speed,"  said  the  governor- 
general.t  At  the  same  time,  Alva  had  an  interview 
with  Count  Megen,  stadtliolder  of  Guelders.  To 
Megen  he  intrusted  a  park  of  artillery,  three  com- 
panies of  light  horse,  and  five  vauderas+  of  infan- 
tiy — fifteen  hundred  men  in  all — bidding  him  coop- 
erate with  Aremberg.§  The  wary  old  soldier 
cautioned  both  to  beware  of  undervaluing  the  foe ; 
and  "  above  all,"  added  he,  "  do  nothing  except  in 
concert.  Together,  you  have  four  thousand  picked 
veterans — enough  to  disperse  this  peasant  gang : 
but  be  not  over-confident."|l 

Worn  by  anxiety  and  lame  with  gout,  Aremberg 
Avas  fitter  for  an  invalid's  couch  than  for  the  saddle. 
Nevertheless,  obedient  to  orders,  he  mounted  horse 
and  galloped  wath  all  speed  towards  the  front.  At 
Harlingen,  on  the  18tli  of  May,  he  was  joined  by 
his  entire  division — upwards  of  three  thousand  sea- 
s' Cor.  de  Due  d'Albe.  Cited  iu  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  187. 
t  Ibid. 

J  One  of  Alva's  vauderas  counted  one  hundi-ed   and  seventy 
men  on  an  average. 

§  Mendoza,  uhl  sup,  \\  Ibid. 


LIBERTY'S  DRUM-TAP.  525 

Koned  campaigners."  Count  Megen,  delayed  by 
the  untimely  insubordination  of  his  corps,  clamor- 
ous for  back  pay,  was  a  day's  march  in  the  rear.f 

For  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  whereabouts 
of  Nassau,  though  with  no  desire  to  precipitate  a 
battle  until  his  coadjutor  should  come  up,  Arem- 
berg  at  once  struck  his  tents  at  Harlingen,  pushed 
quickly  through  the  streets  of  Groningen,  and  on 
the  22d  of  May,  came  upon  Count  Louis'  vanguard 
at  Appiugedam.:]:  The  Spanish  advance,  too  fiery 
to  be  controlled,  charged  the  patriot  pickets  and 
drove  them  in  pell-mell.  Then,  as  night  was  nigh, 
farther  fighting  was  postponed  by  mutual  consent, 
and  both  armies  bivouacked. 

Louis  Nassau  was  dissatisfied  with  his  position 
at  Appingedam.  He  knew  his  raw  and  mutinous 
following  to  be  inferior  to  the  foe  in  all  save  num- 
bers. Equity  required  that  what  his  men  lacked  in 
morale,  they  should  counterbalance  by  position. 
Accordingly,  his  camp-master  was  commanded  to 
keep  the  watch-fires  brightly  ablaze  till  midnight; 
but  at  that  time  the  patriot  army  retreated  three 
leagues  to  the  south  of  the  twilight  bivouac,  along 
the  Wold-weg„  forest-road,  a  narrow  cause^vay 
through  a  swamp.  On  a  wooded  knoll,  hard  by 
the  abbey  of  Heiliger-lee — the  "  Holy  Lion,"  which 
gave  its  name  to  the  ensuing  battle — Count  Louis 
halted  and  prepared  to  fight.§ 

-  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  235.     Mencloza.  f  Ibid. 

X  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  47.     Bor.,  uhi  sup. 
§  Ibid.     Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  189. 


526  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

This  position  was  more  to  Nassau's  mind,  for  it 
was  one  of  extraordinary  strength.  In  his  rear 
loomed  the  abbey,  girt  by  a  dense  wood  ;  on  his 
left  stood  a  scraggy  hill;  on  his  right,  and  sweeping 
round  to  the  front,  there  was  a  swamp,  divided  into 
squares  by  impassable  ditches  whence  peat  had 
been  taken  for  fuel,  leaving  a  fallacious  and  grass- 
like scum  afloat  upon  the  pools  to  simulate  the  turf 
that  had  been  removed."  On  the  knoll,  high  and 
dry.  Count  Louis'  men-at-arms  were  drawn  up  in 
two  squares,  rather  deep  than  wide,  to  defend  the 
only  approach  to  their  position,  the  causeway, 
which  crept  serpent-like  through  the  circumjacent 
bogs.t    . 

On  the  morning  of  the  23d  of  Ma}',  Aremberg 
awoke  to  find  that  his  opponent  had  given  him  the 
slip.  He  at  once  sounded  the  advance,  though 
still,  recalling  Alva's  orders,  determined  not  to  join 
battle  until  reinforced  by  Megen.  When  he  dis- 
covered Nassau  posted  before  the  Heiliger-lee,  the 
astute  soldier  was  confirmed  in  his  purpose  to 
await  the  arrival  of  his  colleague.:]:  Did  he  not 
know  the  admirable  strength  of  the  enemy's  posi- 
tion ?  Was  he  not  well  acquainted  with  the  treach- 
erous nature  of  the  ground — one  great  sweep  of 
traps  and  pitfalls  ? 

But  the  Spanish  veterans,  vain  from  a  hundred 
successful  battle-fields,  filled  with  contempt  for  the 

-'>  Motley,  Yol.  2,  p.  191.     Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  242.    Mendoza. 
f  Ibid.     De  Thou,  torn.  5,  p.  445,  et  seq. 
i  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  47.     Mendoza,  folio  52. 


LIBERTY'S  DRUM-TAP.  527 

disorderly  levies  of  Count  Louis,  already  iu  full  re- 
treat as  they  tliouglit,  and  heated  by  the  pursuit, 
were  clamorous  for  an  immediate  action.  "  No," 
said  their  prudent  leader,  "I  shall  not  fight  until 
Count  Megen  is  by  my  side."*  This  peremptory 
refusal  caused  intense  excitement  in  his  camp ;  offi- 
cers and  soldiers  were  alike  indignant,  "Wliy  should 
a  halt  be  made  merely  to  allow  Megen's  loitering 
and  mutinous  troops,  arriving  at  the  eleventh  hour, 
to  share  in  the  triumph  and  the  spoil  ?t  "  This 
Aremberg  is  a  disloyal  coward,"  said  some.  "  He 
is  inclined  to  play  the  traitor,"  cried  others.  "  He 
is  a  Netherlander  himself,  and  therefore  a  heretic," 
shouted  another  chorus. |  Aremberg  was  a  brave 
and  prudent  and  skilful  captain ;  but,  unhappily 
for  himself,  he  lacked  moral  courage  —  he  could 
not  stand  fire  under  a  battery  of  taunting  tongues. 
In  this  he  was  unlike  Alva,  unlike  the  foremost  sol- 
diers of  all  ages.  "  KecoUect  that  the  first  foes 
with  whom  one  has  to  contend  are  one's  own 
troops" — it  was  so  that  Alva  instructed  Don  John  of 
Austria — "with  their  clamors  for  an  engagement  at 
this  moment,  and  with  their  murmurs  about  results 
at  another ;  with  their  '  I  thought  that  the  battle 
should  be  fought,'  or  '  It  was  my  opinion  that  the 
occasion  ought  not  to  be  lost.'  Your  highness  Avill 
have  ample  opportunity  to  display  valor,  and  will 
never   be  weak  enough  to  be   conquered  by   the 

*  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  47.   Meudoza,  fol.  52. 

t  Motley,  uhl  sup. 

X  Brantome,  CEuvres,  torn.  1,  p,382.     Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  47. 


528  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

babble  of  soldiers."*  'T  is  a  useful  lesson,  this  of 
the  responsibility  and  independence  of  a  general  in 
the  field,  and  one  necessary  to  be  learned  by  all 
military  men. 

Aremberg  had  not  learned  it,  though  ujDon  this 
occasion  the  ancient  jealousy  between  Netherlander 
and  Spaniard  extenuated  his  fault.  "  Come,  then," 
cried  he,  "  let  us  see  whether  a  Netherlander  dare 
not  lead  where  a  Spaniard  dare  follow ;"  and  with 
a  wild  huzza,  both  captain  and  soldiers  flung  them- 
selves uj^on  the  foe.f 

The  result  w^as  precisely  that  which  Aremberg 
had  feared.  The  Spaniards  charged,  not  Nassau's 
rustics,  but  the  mud  and  water  of  the  morass  which 
fronted  the  abbey  of  Heiliger-lee.  Scores  were 
entombed  alive  in  the  verdant  pools.:!:  Hundreds 
were  slaughtered  by  Count  Louis'  pikemen,  as 
they  essayed  to  crawl  up  the  oozy  banks  from  out 
the  ditches.§  Dry-shod  and  unassailed,  the  patriot 
men-at-arms  were  busied  onlj^  in  slaying  the  entan- 
gled and  helpless  veterans  of  Spain. ||  While  Arem- 
berg's  main  body  was  thus  struggling  in  the  mud. 
Count  Louis'  cavalry,  led  by  Adolphus  Nassau, 
made  a  detour  around  the  base  of  the  hill  which 
had  thus  far  sheltered  them  from  the  enemy's  fire, 
and  falling  upon  the  Spanish  rear-guard  ere  these 
could  advance  to  aid  their  perishing  comrades,  rode 
them  down,  trampled  them  out  of  existence,  and 

"  Docnmentos  Ineditos,  torn.  3,  p.  273,  et  seq. 

f  Brantome,  uhi  sup.     Mendoza,  folios  4!»,  50.     Hoofd. 

X  Ibid.     Strada,  uhi  sup.  §  Ibid.         ||  Ibid.,  ut  aniecu 


LIBERTY'S  DRUM-TAP.  521) 

won  the  battle  by  a  cou20  cle  main*  But,  alas,  the 
gallant  young  cavalry-man — he  was  but  twenty- 
seven— crossed  the  path  of  Aremberg  in  this  wild 
gallop ;  who,  determined  not  to  survive  defeat,  rush- 
ed with  chivalrous  ardor  to  meet  his  conqueror. 
Each  fell  by  the  other's  handt— Aremberg  among 
the  earliest  killed  on  the  side  of  Spain  in  this  grim 
war;  Adolphus  the  first  slain  of  a  house  destined 
thereafter  to  lay  so  many  of  its  children  in  untimely 
graves. 

Nassau's  laurels  were  dappled  with  the  blood  of 
his  beloved  brother;  but  nevertheless,  great  were 
the  spoils  of  his  victory.  His  loss  was  small,  while 
five  hundredl  of  his  foemen  strewed  the  battle-plain 
stiff  in  death.  His  booty — Aremberg's  rich  service 
of  plate,  a  sum  of  money,  military  stores — was  a  wel- 
come item  in  his  list  of  captures  ;§  as  were  also  six 
cannon  brought  by  the  Spaniards  from  Groningen, 
and  which  had  been  baptized  by  the  lovers  of  such 
harmony  with  the  notes  of  the  gamut,  7it,  re,  mi,  fa, 
sol,  Zrt.il  But  it  had  been  ordained  that  when  these 
musical  pieces  piped,  the  Spaniards  were  not  to 
dance.H 

In  the  very  midst  of  the  rout,  Count  Megen 
came  up,  but  not  soon  enough  to  succor  Aremberg.*- 

«  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  193. 

t  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  47.     Mendoza,  et  al. 

t  Some  accounts  say  1,GOO.  Vide  Meteren,  folio  52.  Hoofd, 
torn.  5,  p.  1G6.  Compare  Corresp.  du  Duo  d'Albe,  p.  3.  Men- 
doza, p.  50. 

§  Archives  de  la  Maisou  d'Oraugc-Nassau,  torn.  3,  p.  221. 

II  Strada,  uU  sup.  If  Motley,  ubi  sup. 

**  Corresp.  dn  Due  d'Albc.  pp.  90,  98. 

Piltrh  Hi'f.  23 


530  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

Without  striving  to  do  so,  be  gathered  what  strag- 
glers he  could  pick  up  into  his  train,  and  by  a  dex- 
terous movement  threw  his  division  into  Gronin- 
gen ;  whither  Nassau  followed  him  after  a  few  days, 
encamping  before  the  town.* 

«  Bor.,  4,  p.  236. 


TRAGEDIES.  531 

CHAPTER    XXX. 

TRAGEDIES. 

•Although  in  the  year  of  grace  1568  there  were 
no  steam-engines  to  rush  from  town  to  town,  sneeze 
out  the  news,  and  clash  into  the  horizon ;  and  al- 
though the  hghtning  had  not  been  tamed  as  yet 
into  an  errand-boy,  the  report  of  Aremberg's  defeat 
and  death  sped  over  Europe  with  a  fleetness  almost 
telegraphic.  Men  viewed  the  news  through  the 
eyes  of  their  politics.  Orange  rejoiced;  not  on 
account  of  the  material  results  of  Count  Louis'  suc- 
cess, these  were  not  many,  but  because  of  the  moral 
effect  of  a  victory  won  by  raw,  ill-paid,  and  half- 
mutinous  troops  over  veterans  esteemed  invincible. 

Alva  was  enraged  for  the  same  reason ;  not  be- 
cause of  the  loss  sustained  in  men  and  munitions 
of  war — though  this  was  felt  at  such  a  crisis,  and 
the  governor-general,  like  Augustus,  called  vainly 
on  the  dead  commander  for  his  legions — but  on 
account  of  the  prestige  acquired  by  the  insurgents, 
certain  to  animate  their  allies  to  fresh  exertions, 
sure  to  inspire  the  forces  of  William,  nearly  ready 
to  march  to  the  assistance  of  the  invaders,  and 
likely  to  stir  the  provinces  themselves  to  widespread 
revolt.  "  CospettoT  exclaimed  Alva,  "I  must  take 
the  field  in  person  against  these  insolent  beggars."* 

*  Mendoza,  Comentarios. 


532  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

But  before  the  enactment  of  that  drama,  there 
was  a  prehide  to  be  played.  An  antidote  Vv-as  to 
be  provided  for  domestic  sedition.  The  hot  blood 
of  the  governor-general  was  to  be  cooled  by  the 
precipitate  execution  of  a  long  list  of  titled  victims. 
The  battle  of  Heiliger-lee  had  been  fought  on  the 
23d  of  May.  On  the  28th  of  May  sentence  by  "de- 
fault was  passed  upon  the  prince  of  Orange,  Louis 
Nassau,  Culemberg,  and  the  rest — perpetual  exile 
and  the  confiscation  of  their  estates  to  the  use  ''" 
the  crown.*  At  the  same  time  Culemberg-house,  the 
cradle  of  Brederode's  confederacy,  where  Alva  had 
at  first  pitched  his  headquarters — he  had  moved 
thence  to  the  castle  of  Brabant  upon  Margaret's 
retirement — was  levelled  to  the  earth.  Above  the 
ruins  a  marble  column  was  reared,  upon  the  pedes- 
tal of  which  were  engraved  these  words  in  four  lan- 
guages :  "  In  this  area  stood  the  palace  of  Florence 
Pallant,  count  of  Culemberg,  now  razed  to  execrate 
the  damnable  conspiracy  plotted  therein  against 
religion,  the  Roman  church,  the  king's  majesty,  and 
the  country."! 

After  witnessing  this  pageant,  the  blood-judges 
returned  to  their  meal  of  vengeance  with  sharpened 
appetites,  sentencing  to  death,  ere  they  adjourned 
for  the  day,  nineteen  prisoners  of  high  rank,  guilty 
of  having  signed  the  papers  of  the  league.]:     On  the 

■"■  Sententicn  van  Alba,  ji.  70.     Viglii  Epist.  ad  Hop.,  p  481. 
t  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  42.     Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  248. 
%  Meteren,  folio  57.     Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  167,  et  seq.     Strada, 
torn.  2,  p.  48. 


TRAGEDIES.  533 

1st  of  June  these  covenanters  were  beheaded  in  the 
horse-market  at  Brussels.  Eight  of  tlieni  died  Ro- 
manists, and  their  uncoffined  remains  were  interred 
in  unconsecrated  ground.  The  others  were  heretics ; 
their  bodies  were  tied  to  stakes,  their  heads  were 
set  upon  poles,  and  so  left  to  rot  back  to  dust.* 

On  the  following  morning,  aghast  Brussels  again 
assembled  to  behold  the  execution  of  another  batch 
of  victims,  a  dozen  in  uumber,f  among  whom  was 
Villars,  the  leader  of  that  division  of  the  invaders 
v.ho  were  routed  on  the  frontier  of  Juliers.|  On 
the  3d  of  June,  Casembrot  of  Backerzeel,  Egmont's 
confidential  secretary,  condemned  as  a  whilom  mem- 
ber of  the  beggars'  union,  was  put  to  the  torture — 
he  had  been  racked  befo  '=' — in  the  hope  that  some 
confession  which  should  implicate  his  master  might 
be  wrung  from  his  tormented  lips.§  He  made  no 
disclosures;  and  wliennt  became  evident  that  he 
would  say  nothing  to  the  prejudice  of  Egmont,  Alva 
was  so  enraged  that  he  bade  the  executioner  tear 
him  asunder  with  wild  liorses.H 

Twenty-four  hours  later,  almost  before  poor 
Backerzeel's  muscles  had  ceased  to  quiver,  two 
close  carriages,  escorted  by  ten  companies  of  pike- 
men  and  arquebusiers  and  a  detachment  of  lancers, 
entered  the  capital.     It  was  dusk  as  the  cort(^ge, 

*  Strada,  ubi  sup.  Archives  de  la  Maison  d'Orange-Nassau, 
torn.  3,  p.  241.  t  Bor.,  Hoofd,  xthi  sxip.  t  Ibid. 

§  Bentivoglio,  Gucii-a  de  Fiaiidra,  p.  200. 

(1  Bentivoglio,  ut  aiiiea.  This  circumstance  finds  no  place  in 
the  accounts  of  Backerzeel's  execution  given  by  the  other  contem- 
poraneous historians.     Compare  Strada,  Meteren,  Hoofd,  et  al. 


534  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

defiling  tlirougli  the  streets  to  tlie  music  of  a  dead 
march,  halted  before  the  Bread-house — now  the 
Maison  du  Eoi,  a  picturesque  old  pile  opposite  the 
Town-hall,  on  the  great  square  of  Brussels.  Here, 
two  figures,  muffled  and  carefully  attended,  alight- 
ed, one  from  either  vehicle,  passed  quickly  up  the 
steps,  and  entered  the  building;  whereupon,  the 
men-at-arms  broke  ranks  and  prepared  to  bivouac 
in  the  square.  Rapid  as  the  transit  had  been,  the 
gaping  burghers  recognized  the  features  of  Count 
Horn  and  the  stately  form  of  Egmont  in  the  fading 
twilight  of  the  summer  day — recognized  them,  and 
instantly  surmised  that  they  were  now  in  Brussels, 
after  an  absence  of  nine  months,  as  guests  of  the 
headsman.* 

How  had  these  months  been  passed  ?  Let  us 
ascertain  by  looking  back,  for  a  moment,  over  the 
shoulder  of  this  history.       * 

Two  facts  are  to  be  borne  in  mind:  first,  the 
cases  of  Egmont  and  Horn  had  been  judged  at 
Madrid,  while  they  were  at  large  and  unsuspic- 
ious in  the  states,  and  the  sentence,  signed  by 
Philip  in  blank,  had  been  brought  from  Spain  in 
Alva's  portfolio.;'!'  second,  the  seigneurs  would  have 
been  shot  at  sight  by  the  decree  of  a  drum-head 
court-martial,  had  it  not  been  deemed  safest,  on 
account  of  their  high  rank  and  influential  position, 
to  pretend  to  base  the  imported  judgment  on  the 
fraudulent  developments  of  a  mock  trial.      Hence 

»  Iloofd,  torn.  5,  p.  1G8.    Monclancct,  op.  Brantome,  (Euvres, 
torn.  1,  p.  3G3.  t  Hool'd,  nU  sup. 


TRAGEDIES.  535 

the  arrest ;  hence  a  formal  impeachment.  But 
since  the  verdict  was  in  the  pocket  of  the  governor- 
general,  the  prosecution  did  not  esteem  it  necessary 
to  observe  more  than  the  flimsiest  forms  of  what 
might  look  like  law  in  the  eyes  of  the  ignorant — 
law  itself  being  ignored  at  the  very  outset  by  hold- 
ing the  jjrisoners  to  answer  at  the  bar  of  the  blood- 
judges,  an  abnormal  and  unknown  tribunal.  Every 
step  taken  in  such  a  trial  necessarily  became  a 
cumulative  illegality. 

The  betrayed  grandees  were  hardly  lodged  in 
the  dungeon-keep  at  Ghent,  when  Alva,  as  greedy 
for  gold  as  for  blood,  sequestrated  their  estates,  by 
a  stroke  of  the  pen  reducing  them  from  affluence  to 
beggary.*  As  a  consequence,  their  imprisonment 
was  rigorous  and  necessitous.t  Hardest  of  all, 
they  were  not  allowed  to  look  upon  the  dear  faces 
of  their  fi-iends  and  relatives. | 

On  the  12th  of  November,  1567,  Vargas,  Del 
Kio,  and  Mr.  Secretary  Pratz  visited  the  prison- 
house.  Where  the  carcass  is,  there  will  the  vul- 
tures be.  The  trio  had  been  empowered  by  Alva 
to  examine  and  cross-examine  Egmont  and  Horn, 
for  the  purpose  of  entrapping  them,  if  possible,  into 
an  admission  of  guilt.§  Through  five  days,  the 
wily  lawyers  questioned  and  hinted  and  verbally 
writhed,  until  the  interrogatories  filled  fifty  octavo 
pages,  and  covered  the  entire  ground  of  the  recent 

■"  Bor.     Cited  iu  Prescott,  Yol.  2,  p.  253.  f  Ibid. 

I  Vide  letter  of  Countess  Egmont  to  Philip  in  Cor.  de  Philippe 
II.,  torn.  2,  p.  5.  §  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  190. 


536  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

tumnlts.*  Each  prisoner  was  examined  separately, 
and,  unacquainted  Avitli  the  law,  each  was  at  first 
reluctant  to  answer ;  nor  would  either  do  so  until  in- 
formed that,  in  default  of  the  required  replies,  each 
was  to  be  proceeded  against  for  contempt  of  court.f 

With  these  records,  obtained  by  bullying  the 
captives,  the  inquisitorial  attorneys  withdrew ;  and 
from  their  report,  which  each  swore  to  and  signed, 
the  procurator -general  made  out  the  processes 
against  the  illustrious  condemned.'! 

Two  months  passed  ere  the  counts  were  again 
disturbed.  But  on  the  10th  of  January,  15G8,  each 
was  handed  a  copy  of  the  accusations  filed  against 
him  by  the  king's  attorney.§  Upon  scanning  his 
indictment,  Egmont  found  that  it  contained  ninety 
counts ;  Horn  discovered  that  his  was  composed  of 
sixty-three  counts.il 

As  the  indictments  were  substantially  alike,  they 
may  be  considered  as  one  document.  The  general 
charge  against  both  seigneurs  was,  "  that  they  had 
plotted  with  the  prince  of  Orange  to  dispossess  the 
king  of  the  Low  Countries,  and  to  divide  the  prov- 
inces among  themselves."!  The  specifications  in 
proof  were  masterpieces  of  impudent  knavery.  The 
most  frivolous  gossip,  the  most  irrelevant  circum- 
stances were  jumbled  together  with  matters  of  real 

*  Interrogations.     Prescott,  uhi  s^q). 

t  La  Deduction  de  I'lnnocence  du  Coiute  de  Horne,  pp.  36,  37. 

J  La  Dediictiou,  etc.,  rd  antea. 

§  Proces  du  Comte  d'Egmont,  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  190. 

II  Ibid.     La  Deduction,  etc.,  uhi  sup. 

•if  Tbid.     Stiada,  torn.  2,  p.  -19. 


TRAGEDIES.  537 

moment.  The  origination  of  the  fool's  cap  livery 
was  placed  side  by  side  with  the  meeting  at  Den- 
dremond ;  the  banquet  of  the  gueux  at  Culemberg- 
house  was  collocated  with  the  iconomachy;  the 
unwilling  answers  of  the  prisoners  were  perverted 
into  an  acknowledgment  of  their  open  adhesion  to 
the  petitioners  against  the  Inquisition ;  and  from 
this  muddled  mass  of  fact  and  fiction,  an  inference 
of  treasonable  intent  was  drawn  with  subtle  skill.* 

The  procurator-general  had  been  given  four 
months  in  which  to  elaborate  these  processes.t 
The  counts,  ignorant  of  law,  deprived  of  the  assist- 
ance of  advocates,  forbidden  to  consult  with  their 
friends,  stripped  of  their  papers,  forced  to  rely  on 
their  unassisted  memory  of  the  events  of  a  passion- 
ate crisis,  were  summoned  to  plead  in  writing  to 
these  labored  and  purposely  mixed  charges  within 
five  days,  from  the  solitude  of  their  dungeons,  under 
penalty  of  condemnation  by  default.^ 

Thus  menaced,  and  under  protest,  Egmont  and 
Horn  consented  to  plead.  Both  excepted  to  the 
tribunal,  "  saving  to  themselves  all  advai^tages  in 
law  which  excused  them  from  accounting  for  their 
actions  to  any  save  the  king,  who,  sitting  as  grand- 
master of  the  brotherhood,  was  the  sole  judge  of 
the  knights  of  the  Golden  rieece."§  Then,  in 
separate  papers — they  were  not  permitted  to  cou- 

'•'  Vide,  La  Deductiou,  etc.,  and  Proces  du  Comte  d'Egmont, 
passim.  f  Stracla,  iCbi  sup. 

J  La  Deductiou  de  I'lnnoceuce  du  Conitc  de  Homo,  p.  39. 
Bor.,  torn  4,  p.  195. 

§  Strada,  torn.  2,  \).  50.     rroce.s  du  Coiiitc  d'Egmout. 

23* 


538  THE  DUTCH   REFORMATION. 

suit  even  with  each  other — both  proceeded  to  a 
critical  analysis  of  the  specifications,  denying  some, 
explaining  away  the  damaging  purport  of  others, 
and  indignantly  repelling  the  whole  treasonable 
inference.* 

In  the  meantime,  the  families  of  the  imprisoned 
counts  were  indefatigable  in  their  exertions  to  suc- 
cor the  imperilled  loved  ones.  Horn's  wife,  a 
German  lady  of  high  rank,  aided  by  her  husband's 
step-mother,  the  countess-dowager,  wrote  to  the 
knights  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  in  whatever  country 
residing,  and  obtained  their  written  testimony  to 
the  inalienable  right  of  the  accused  to  be  tried  by 
their  companions  of  the  ordert — evidence  of  the 
first  importance,  since  a  trial  by  the  blood-judges 
was  known  to  be  equivalent  to  a  condemnation.  < 

Nor  was  the  countess  of  Egmont  less  active. 
By  birth  a  duchess  of  Bavaria,  interesting  by  the 
double  claim  of  beauty  and  misfortune,  the  mother 
of  eleven  beggared  children,  she,  the  chiefest  orna- 
ment of  the  court  of  Brussels  in  happier  hours,  was 
momentarily  dazed  by  this  calamity.  But,  pas- 
sionately devoted  to  the  count,  every  pulsation  of 
her  heart  soon  became  an  effort  for  the  liberation 
of  her  husband.  Upon  Egmont's  arrest,  she  had 
taken  refuge  in  a  convent.  From  this  retreat  her 
incessant  appeals  moved  all  Europe  to  sympathetic 
action  in  her  behalf.     Friend  and  foe  alike  Avero 

*  Stracla,  torn.  2,  p.  50.    Proces  cTu  Comte  cl'Egmont. 
t  Supplement  il  Stracla,  torn.  1,  p.  2ii.     Latin,  La  Deduction, 
etc.,  uhi  sup 


TRAGEDIES.  '  539 

importuned,  and  wliat  many  would  not  have  given 
to  save  Egmont  personally  from  the  block,  was 
yielded  to  the  clamorous  tears  of  a  mother  pleading 
for  the  father  of  her  children. 

The  countess  of  Egmont  had  retained  Nicholas 
de  Landas,  himself  a  Fleece  knight,  and  one  of  the 
most  eminent  of  the  medinoval  jurists.*  At  the 
instigation  and  in  the  name  of  his  fair  client,  this 
honest  advocate  sent  letters  by  the  cart-load  to  the 
emperor  Maximilian,  to  the  German  princes,  to 
Alva,  to  Phihp  himselff — "letters,"  says  Strada, 
"Avhicli  cannot  Avell  be  read  by  any  one  without 
commiseration.":!^  In  these  epistles  the  countess 
solicited,  not  Egmont's  release,  but  the  removal  of 
his  cause  from  the  Council  of  Blood  to  the  legitimate 
tribunal  of  the  Golden  Fleece.§ 

The  result  was  that  Christendom  at  large  began 
to  intercede.  The  princes  of  the  Roman  empire, 
the  duchess  of  Parma,  Count  Mansfeld,  Barlaimont, 
even  Granvelle,  to  whose  portrait-painting  Egmont 
was  largely  indebted  for  his  misfortunes,  and  Max- 
imilian, who  "remembered  to  forget"  his  recent 
snubbing  in  such  a  cause — all  addressed  Philip 
advising  mercy,  if  they  felt  it  not.Il  So  infectious 
was  the  courage  of  this  woman,  resolute  from  de- 
spair, that  the  timid  estates  of  Brabant  x>lucked  up 
the  heart  to  petition  Alva  to  transfer  these  causes 

•~-  Prescott,  vol.  2,  p.  25G.  t  Ibid.     Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  49.  • 

X  strada,  ubi  sup.  §  Prescott,  uhi  sup. 

II  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  pp.  588,  599,  614.  Strada,  uU 
sup.     La  Deduction  de  rinnoceucc,  etc. .  p.  G05. 


540  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

to  the  provincial  courts,  that  the  seigneurs  might 
enjoy  the  protection  of  privileges  which  were  the 
aegis  of  the  meanest  citizen.* 

In  response  to  these  manifold  appeals,  Philip, 
so  prolific  on  common  occasions,  would  not  deign 
to  speak.  Alva  was  quite  as  reticent,  though  he 
did  grudgingly  concede  to  the  counts  the  right  of 
employing  counsel.t  Each  of  them  retained  five 
of  the  foremost  advocates  of  the  day ;  and,  to  the 
credit  of  the  Netherland  bar  be  it  said,  these  law- 
yers labored  honestly,  tirelessly,  skilfully  to  save 
their  clients,  though  such  efforts,  if  not  actually 
dangerovBS,  were  at  least  well  understood  not  to  lie 
in  the  path  to  preferment.  But  there  have  been 
attorneys  who  regarded  a  quiet  conscience  more 
than  a  tyrant's  smile.  When  the  emperor  Cara- 
calla  murdered  his  own  brother,  and  ordered  Papin- 
ian  to  defend  the  deed,  he  went  cheerfully  to  death 
rather  than  sully  his  lij)s  with  the  atrocious  plea. 
It  was  in  the  self-same  spirit  that  these  Dutch  law- 
yers undertook  to  do  their  duty. 

Their  first  step  was  to  file  a  plea  against  the 
jurisdiction.  They  claimed  that  there  were  but 
three  tribunals  competent  to  try  tlie  prisoners.  As 
knights  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  they  were  privileged 
to  be  tried  by  the  statutes  of  that  order:]:- — statutes, 
indeed,  which  conferred  on  the  brotherhood  exclu- 
sive jurisdiction  over  all  crimes  committed  by  the 

«  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  189. 

f  La  Deduction  dc  I'lunocence,  etc.,  p.  42,  et  seq. 

X  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  195.     Proces  du  Comtc  d'Egraout. 


TRAGEDIES.  511 

knights.*  Horn,  a  chief  part  of  whose  estates  lay 
in  Germany,  might  justly  claim  to  be  a  subject  of 
the  Eoman  empire,  impeachable  alone  by  his  peers, 
the  electors  and  princes  of  that  realm. f  Egmont, 
the  possessor  of  lands  in  Brabant,  was  properly 
amenable  to  the  supreme  court  of  that  duchy.:]: 
Here  were  three  legal  fountains  of  power,  each  suf- 
ficient; the  three  together,  three  times  sufficient; 
each  exuberant,  the  three  together  three  times  exu- 
berant. 

The  government  began  to  feel  embarrassed. 
It  had  been  thought  best  to  murder  Egmont  and 
Horn  legally;  but  these  masterly  pleas  against 
the  jurisdiction,  these  skilful  invocations  of  time- 
honored  safeguards,  had  not  been  counted  on. 
Despotism  blundered  in  its  maintenance  even  of 
the  show  of  legality.  Alva  was  tired  of  the  farce. 
"  Sire,"  wrote  he  to  Philip,  "  pray  put  a  stop  to  the 
harangues  of  these  excepters  by  making  known 
your  decision."§  ^ 

The  king  complied,  though  he  was  careful  to 
have  his  decision  confirmed  by  "  men  of  authority 
and  learning  ;"||  for,  while  regardless  of  the  can- 
celled charters  of  the  states,  the  statutes  of  the 
Order  of  the  Fleece,  a  miniature  republic  whose 
citizens  were  emperors  and  kings  and  princes,  were 
not  so  rudely  to  be  overridden.  Nevertheless,  he 
was  not  to  be  balked  of  vengeance  by  parchment 

■=   Vide  chapters  11,  13,  U,  15  of  the  Order  of  the  Fleece, 
f  Bor.,  uU  sup.  +  j]^jj_ 

§  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  562.  ||  Ibid.,  p.  612. 


542  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

prohibitions.  In  the  teeth  of  the  statutes  of  the 
order,  he  declared  that  the  immunities  of  the  Fleece 
did  not  extend  to  treasonable  practices ;  and  letters- 
patent,  antedated  eight  months,  were  despatched 
to  Alva,  which  empowered  him  to  try  all  persons 
charged  with  treason.* 

Of  course  these  credentials  overruled  all  demur- 
rers to  the  jurisdiction.  The  next  step  of  the  wary 
advocates  was  to  delay  the  trial.  Suspicious  that 
the  case  had  been  prejudged,  they  thought  that 
every  day  the  decision  was  postponed  was  an  oppor- 
tunity won  by  their  clients  for  escape. f  On  the  Gth 
of  May,  the  procurator-general  remonstrated  against 
these  dilatory  proceedings.  "  Eight  months  have 
elapsed,"  said  he,  "  yet  the  defence  have  neglected 
to  support  their  case  by  bringing  forward  their  wit- 
ness. I  pray  that  a  day  may  be  named  for  the  close 
of  the  processes.":]:  "Yes,"  was  the  reply,  "we 
have  abundant  testimony  at  hand,  but  't  is  custo- 
mary for  the  pr(^ecution  to  take  precedence.  Where 
are  your  witnesses  ?" 

Alva,  conveniently  deaf  to  this  retort,'  named 
the  8th  of  May  as  the  day  on  which  the  cases  should 
terminate.§  On  tlie  morning  of  the  2d  of  June, 
15G8,  a  parcel  of  ex-parte  papers  Avere  laid  before  the 
Council  of  Blood;  and  Vargas  and  Del  Hio,  judges 
who  had  acted  as  prosecuting  aitorneys  at  the  out- 

*  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  1,  p.  612. 
t  Prescott,  vol.  2,  pp.  267,  2G8. 
X  Supplemeut  "a  Strada,  torn.  1,  p.  90. 
IJ  La  Deduction,  etc.,  p.  43. 


TEAGEDIES.  543 

set,  pronounced  the  prisoners — forbidden  to  adduce 
the  testimony  in  their  favor,  ignorant  of  that  which 
had  been  used  against  them — guilty  of  treason 
and  of  connivance  at  heres}^,  and  condemned  them 
to  the  block  *  On  the  evening  of  the  4th  of  May, 
the  governor-general  went  in  person  to  a  meeting^ 
of  the  blood-judges  and  joyfully  approved  this  find- 
ing, scrawling  "  Alva"  upon  the  back  of  it.f 

To  apply  the  word  trial  to  these  proceedings 
would  be  an  insult  to  its  honest  meaning.  The  tri- 
bunal was  incompetent;  the  prisoners  were  long 
without  advocates,  during  which  time  wily  lawyers 
attempted  to  entrap  them  into  fatal  admissions; 
the  testimony  for  the  defence  was  excluded ;  the 
government  evidence  was  concealed ;  and  the  causes 
were  finally  decided  before  a  thousandth  part  of 
their  merits  had  been  placed  under  the  eyes  of  the 
judges  who  gave  the  sentence.:]: 

Yiglius,  an  encj'clopedical  toady,  did  indeed 
vouch  for  the  legitimacy  of  the  Council  of  Blood, 
and  testify  to  the  honesty  of  the  trial.§  But  the 
law  maxim  is  that  a  witness  should  be  trusted  only 
in  matters  he  understands;  his  evidence  therefore 
goes  for  nothing. 

The  accusation  and  the  defence  are  still  extant. 
On  the  facts,  any  impartial  tribunal  would  have 
acquitted  the  counts.  It  was  plain  that  they  had 
noj;  approved  of  the  policy  of  the  king  at  one  time ; 

•"-  Bor..  torn.  4,  p.  239.     Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  51.     Meteren,  folios 
5--2,  53.  t  Ibia.  X  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  177. 

§  Cor.  Je  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  1. 


544  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

it  was  evident  that  they  had  esteemed  several  of 

Philip's  measures  to  be  impracticable ;  but  there 

"was  uo  evidence  of  a  design  to  depose  the  tyrant. 

On  the  contrary,  it  appeared  that  both  had  opposed 

projects  which  squinted  towards  that  end,  earning 

the  thanks  of  her  highness  of  Parma  for  their  loyal 

activity  in  a  crucial  hour.*     Indeed,  had  Egmont 

and  Horn  been  guilty,  it  would  have  been  better 

for  their  posthumous  fame.     But  how  could  men 

foredoomed  hope  to  prove  their  innocence  in  a  land 

where  there  was  no  law  but  the  court-martial,  no 

justice  but  the  sergeant's  guard;  where  usui*pation 

was  styled  legitimacy,  and  right  was  nicknamed 

brigandage  ? 

More  and  more  alarmed  by  the  progress  which 

Louis  Nassau  was  making  in  the  north,  anxious  to 

take  the  field  at  once,  yet  determined  not  to  do  so 

until  Brussels  had  been  scoured  with  the  blood  of 

Egmont  and  Horn,  Alva  named  the  day  succeeding 

the  sentence  for  the  execution  of  the  seigneurs.    On 

the  4th  of  June  he  summoned  the  bishop  of  Ypres 

to  the  capital  to  shrive  the  prisoners.     At  dusk  the 

prelate  waited  upon  the  governor-general.    Falling 

upon  his  knees  and  bursting  into  tears,  he  falter- 

ingiy  entreated  that  Egmont  might  be  spared,  at 

least  that  his  execution  might  be  deferred.     "  Eise, 

sir  bishop,"   answered  Alva  fiercely ;  "  I  did  not 

*  '•  This  was  so  evident,  that  Pierre  Arseiis,  presitleut  of  Artois, 
himself  a  member  of  the  bloocl-eoimcil,  addressed  an  elaborate 
memoir  to  Alva,  criticising  the  case  by  the  rules  of  law,  and  main- 
taining that  Egmont,  instead  of  deserving  punishment,  was  enti- 
tled to  a  signal  reward."     Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  17'J. 


TBAGEDIES.  515 

bring  you  from  Ypres  to  change  or  defer  the  sen- 
tence, but  to  confess  the  criminals."^ 

Towards  midnight  the  churchman  entered  Eg- 
mont's  chamber.  Arousing  the  count  from  a  heavy 
sleep,  for  he  had  been  fatigued  by  the  ride  from 
Ghent,  the  bishop  placed  a  parchment,  on  which 
the  sentence  was  engi'ossed,  in  his  hands.  He 
thought  at  j&rst  that  it  was  an  order  for  his  release, 
having  been  led  to  hope  that  the  conclusion  of  his 
trial  would  result  in  an  acquittal — a  delusion  in 
which  Horn  is  said  to  have  shared. t  Soon  discov- 
ering his  mistake,  he  yet  read  the  paper  through 
without  flinching,  though  he  turned  deadly  pale.:]: 
"Father,"  said  he,  "'tis  a  terrible  sentence.  Little 
did  I  imagine  that  any  offence  I  had  committed 
against  God  or  the  king  could  merit  such  a  punish- 
ment. It  is  not  death  that  I  fear--that  is  the  com- 
mon lot  of  all.  But  I  shrink  from  dishonor."  Then, 
after  a  pause,  he  asked,  "Is  there  indeed  no  hope?" 
"None,"  replied  the  prelate  with  tearful  accent. 
Again  Egmont  pronounced  the  sentence  cruel  and 
unjust ;  adding,  "  But  since  it  is  the  will  of  God  and 
his  majesty,  I  will  try  to  meet  it  with  patience.  I 
venture  to  hope  that  my  sufferings  may  so  far  expi- 
ate my  offences  that  my  innocent  family  be  not 
involved  in  ruin  by  the  confiscation  of  my  estates."^ 
He  was  told  that  his  property  had  already  escheated 

*  Supplement  k  Strada,  torn.  1,  p.  259.     Bor.,  Hoofcl. 

f  Relacion  de  la  Justitia,  MS.,  cited  iu  Prescott,  vol.  2,  -p.  278. 

J  Supiilement  "a  Strada,  torn.  1,  p.  259. 

§  Ibid.     Metercn,  folio  5G.     Bor.,  torn,  -i,  p.  239. 


546  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

to  the  crown.  "Then  I  will  write  his  majesty,"  was 
the  response ;  and  seating  himself,  he  penned  a  few 
lines  to  Philip,  in  which,  after  an  affirmation  of  his 
innocence,  he  implored  the  king  to  take  compassion 
upon  his  wife  and  children.* 

"  Here,  father,"  said  he,  handing  the  letter  to 
the  bishoj),  "  I  charge  you,  as  you  value  your  soul, 
to  forward  this  to  his  majesty.  Send  him  this  ring 
also" — and  he  drew  one  of  great  value  from  his 
finger  — "  't  was  his  own  gift  to  me  in  happier 
times."t  Egmont  then  remarked  with  exquisite 
courtesy,  "  I  render  thanks  botli  to  God  and  the 
duke  that  my  last  moments  are  to  be  consoled  by 
such  an  excellent  father  confessor.  Teach  me  how 
to  meet  my  end.":]: 

He  then  confessed  himself,  and  afterwards  spent 
some  time  in  prayer.  Suddenly  a  thousand  tender 
recollections  trooped  through  his  mind,  almost  un- 
manning him — his  unhappy  countess,  his  suffering 
children,  his  own  full  enjoyment  of  an  existence 
now  about  to  be  cut  untimely  short.  "  Alas,  alas," 
exclaimed  he,  "how  miserable  and  frail  is  our  na- 
ture, that,  when  Ave  should  think  of  God  alone,  we 
are  unable  to  shut  out  the  images  of  wife  and  chil- 
dren."§ 

After  a  little,  he  regained  his  self-possession. 
"  What  language  shall  I  hold  from  the  scaffold  to 

*  Supplement  h,  Strada,  torn.  1,  p.  259.  Meteren,  folio  56. 
Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  239, 

t  Supplement  a  Strada,  uhi  sup.  Corres.  de  Philippe  II.,  toni. 
2,  p.  764. 

X  Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  169.  §  Ibid. 


TEAGEDIES.  547 

the  assembled  multitude  ?"  queried  be.  "  I  sliould 
advise  you  to  say  nothing,"  replied  the  prelate. 
"  Those  at  a  distance  will  not  hear  you ;  the  Span- 
iards will  not  understand  you.  Silence  would  be 
more  dignified."  The  count  acquiesced.*  "  What 
prayer  would  be  most  fitting  for  my  lips  at  the  last 
moment?"  was  the  next  question.  "None  could  bo 
fitter,"  said  the  bishop,  "than  that  which  Christ 
taught  the  disciples :  '  Our  Father,  which  art  in 
heaven.'  "f  Egmont  spent  the  rest  of  the  night  in 
prayer,  mediiTation,  and  the  arming  of  his  mind  to 
suffer.  I 

In  Horn's  apartment  there  was  a  similar  scene. 
He  was  quite  as  much  surprised  as  Egmont  by  the 
announcement  of  the  verdict,  and  quite  as  calm. 
He  too  passed  the  hours  in  the  exercises  of  devo- 
tion. § 

In  the  mean  time,  the  presence  of  so  many  men- 
at-arms  in  the  market-place,  and  the  sight  of  work- 
men busy  in  constructing  a  scafi'old,  gave  rise  to  a 
rumor  of  the  execution  of  the  counts  on  the  mor- 
row.ll  The  countess  of  Egmont  heard  of  the  report 
while  on  a  visit  of  condolence  to  the  newly-made 
widow  of  Aremberg.  She  did  not  credit  it,  for  she. 
had  in  her  pocket  at  that  very  moment  a  kind  letter 
from  Maximihan,  in  which  he  said,  "  Be  of  good 
cheer ;  you  have  naught  to  fear  on  your  husband's 

«  Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  170.     Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  240. 

t  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  201.  %  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  52. 

§  Con-esp.  de  Marguerite  d'Autriche,  j),  252. 

II  Metereu,  folio  57. 


548  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

account."*  Nevertheless,  slie  waited  upon  Alva  at 
once.  "  Madame,"  said  the  duke  with  a  brutal  jest, 
"be  not  disheartened;  your  husband  will  leave  his 
prison  in  the  morning." t  Beassured,  the  countess 
•we-pt  her  thanks,  and  withdrew. 

On  the  morrow,  Whitsunday,  the  5th  of  June, 
1568,J  the  prisoners  were  led  out  to  die.  Egmont 
came  first.  He  wore  a  robe  of  red  damask,  and 
over  that  a  black  Spanish  cloak  trimmed  with  gold 
lace.  He  had  himself  cut  off  the  collar  of  his  doub- 
let to  facilitate  the  executioner's  duty.>§  His  hands 
were  untied,  and  in  one  of  them  he  carried  a  white 
handkerchief.  His  hat  was  of  black  silk  garnished 
with  white  and  sable  plumes.  As  the  stately  sol- 
dier emerged  from  the  Bread-house,  with  the  bish- 
op of  Ypres  and  Jidian  Bomero,  camp-master,  on 
either  hand,  a  silence  as  of  death  fell  upon  the  vast 
assembly  of  the  citizens — ten  thousand  hearts  could 
be  heard  to  beat. 

As  he  crossed  the  square,  Egmont  repeated  por- 
tions of  the  fifty-first  psalm :  "  Have  mercy  on  me, 
O  God."  In  a  moment  the  scafibld  was  reached. 
Over  its  rough  surface  a  black  cloth  was  spread. 
Upon  this  rested  two  velvet  cushions  placed  before 
a  silver  crucifix.  At  one  side  stood  a  small  table, 
flanked  by  two  iron  spikes.  The  provost-marshal 
sat  below  on  horseback,  with  his  red  rod  of  ofiico 

<*  Supplement  a  Strada,  torn.  ] ,  p.  252. 

t  Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  1G9.     Hoofd  is  the  sole  authority  for  this 
anecdote.  |  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  52. 

§  Schiller,  Execution  of  Egmout  and  Horn. 


TRAGEDIES.  549 

in  his  grasp.  The  headsman— who  was  said  to 
have  been  Egmont's  footman* — kept  out  of  sight. 
About  the  scaffold  three  thousand  Spanish  sokliers 
were  drawn  up,  no  needless  precaution;  while  two 
vauderas  of  infantry  were  left  to  guard  the  i)alace 
of  the  duke,  and  one  went  the  rounds  of  the  city 
while  the  tragedy  was  being  enacted. t 

On  ascending  the  scaffold,  Egmont  turned  to 
Romero :  "  Is  there  no  hope  ?"  said  he.  The  camp- 
master  shrugged  his  shoulders.:}:  Egmont  clenched 
his  teeth ;  then  with  a  look  of  unutterable  sadness 
he  knelt,  pulled  the  black  cap  over  his  eyes,  cried 
with  a  steady  voice,  "Into  thy  hands,  O  Lord, 
I  commend  my  spirit,"  and  calmly  awaited  the 
death-stroke.§  Loud  sobs  of  anguish  alone  broke 
the  appalling  silence ;  and  for  an  instant  these  were 
hushed  as  the  headsman  leaped  upon  the  scaffold 
and  at  a  single  blow  severed  the  victim's  head  from 
his  shoulders.  Before  the  crowd  had  recovered 
from  its  stupor,  the  love-locks  of  Egmont  dangled 
from  one  of  the  iron  spikes.H 

Then  Horn  appeared.  With  erect  form  and 
steady  step  he  too  mounted  the  scaffold,  saluting 
his  acquaintances  as  he  went.  Glancing  at  the 
bloody  shroud  which  had  been  thrown  over  the 
remains  of  his  poor  friend,  he  said,  "  Is  it  the  body 
of  the  count  ?"  On  receiving  an  affirmative  answer, 
he  muttered  something  in  Castilian  which  was  not 

'  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  52.  f  Hoofd,  torn.  5,  r>.  170. 

t  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  210.     Mctcrcn,  folio  58. 

§  Ibid.  II  Ibid. 


550  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

understood.  Without  farther  delay,  he  knelt,  re- 
peated the  words,  "  Into  thy  hands,  O  Lord,"  and 
was  beheaded.*  As  he  received  the  fatal  blow,  a 
half-smothered  shriek  rang  out  fi'om  twice  ten  thou- 
sand voices.  His  bloody  head  was  set  up  opposite 
that  of  his  fellow-sufferer.  Then  ensued  a  scene 
which  baffles  description.  The  enraged  populace, 
breaking  through  the  serried  ranks  of  the  men-at- 
arms,  dipped  their  handkerchiefs  in  the  blood  of 
the  martyrs,  and  carefully  laid  them  aside  as  mon- 
uments of  love,  or  incitements  to  revenge.  Many, 
heedless  of  the  presence  of  informers,  openly  threat- 
ened to  avenge  the  counts.t 

As  Egmont  died,  the  French  ambassador,  a 
spectator  of  the  scene,  exclaimed,  "  I  have  seen  his 
head  struck  off  whose  valor  has  twice  caused  France 
to  tremble.":]:  Even  Alva,  looking  out  from  a  win- 
dow of  the  Bread-house,  is  said  to  have  wept.§  But 
blushes  are  not  always  virtue's  signals  of  distress ; 
nor  were  Alva's  tears  the  children  of  his  sorrow — 
rather  they  were  the  progeny  of  gratified  malignity. 

For  three  houES  the  heads  of  the  seigneurs 
remained  upon  the  spikes  exposed  to  the  gaze  of 
the  lamenting  multitude.!!  Then  they  were  taken 
down,  and  Alva,  as  it  is  supposed,  despatched  the 
ghastly  trophies  to  Madrid  for  the  delectation  of 
the  king.1I    The  mutilated  trunks  were  huddled  into 

'^  Meteren,  uhi  sup.   Moudaucot,  op.  Brantome.    (Eiivi-es,  torn. 
1,  p.  3G7.  t  Strada,  torn.  2,  pp.  52,  53.  %  Ibid. 

§  Archives  de  la  Maison  d' Orange-Nassau.    Supplement,  p.  81. 
II  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  241.     Meteren,  folio  57. 
%  Ibid.     Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  171. 


TEAGEDIES.  551 

coffins  and  surrendered  to  theii-  respective  families, 
wlio  laid  them  in  tlieir  ancestral  vaults.* 

Sucli  was  the  tragic  end  of  Egmont  and  Horn. 
Living,  they  had  defrauded  not  only  their  country, 
but  their  own  genius.  Dead,  they  were  more  use- 
ful to  humanity,  for  they  became  a  sentiment. 

«  The  countess  of  Egmont  lived  ten  years  after  the  death  of 
her  husband.  For  a  time  Alva  paid  her  a  small  annuity.  Her 
children  were  eventually  reinstated  in  their  rights  by  Phihi),  but 
not  iintil  after  her  death.    Vide  Prescott,  vol.  2,  pp.  300,  304. 


552  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

CHAPTER    XXXI. 

DISASTROUS  CAMPAIGNING. 

A  FEW  days  after  the  taking  off  of  Egmont  and 
Horn,  the  governor-general  set  out  for  the  north  to 
chastise  Count  Louis  of  Nassau.  He  would  not 
delegate  the  duty ;  when  the  rent  came,  he  meant 
to  be  present  at  the  darning. 

Every  available  veteran  in  the  Spanish  pay  had 
been  ordered  to  report  for  active  service  at  the  town 
of  Deventer,  on  the  southern  frontier  of  Overyssel.* 
By  the  10th  of  July,  1568,  when  Alva  himself  reached 
the  rendezvous,t  seventeen  thousand  pikemen  and 
arquebusiers  and  three  thousand  light-cavalrymen 
and  dragoons  were  in  the  camp,  and  two-thirds  of 
the  whole  number  were  experienced  sons  of  Mars.:}: 

As  the  duke  was  about  to  leave  Deventer  for  the 
front,  several  of  his  scouts  galloped  into  town  and 
reported  the  patriots  just  at  hand.  "  We  have  heard 
their  drums  and  seen  their  colors,"  said  they.  Alva 
Avas  astonished ;  but  with  his  usual  caution  he  drew 
up  his  legions  in  battle  array,  and  at  the  same  time 
sent  out  a  squadron  of  lancers  to  reconnoitre.  These 
were  no  sooner  in  the  field  than  they  too  saw  four 

«  Corresp.  du  Due  d'Albe,  p.  154.  f  Mendozn,,  p.  5G. 

%  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  243,  et  seq.  Hoold,  torn.  5,  p.  174.  Com- 
pare Mendoza,  pp.  53,  55,  and  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  54.  The  last  two 
writers  reduce  Alva's  force  to  about  15,000  men. 


DISASTROUS  CAMPAIGNING.         553 

banners  gallantly  displaj^ed ;  but  on  riding  closer, 
tliey  discovered  tliat  the  "patriots"  consisted  of 
four  wagons  covered  with  canvas  and  green  boughs, 
in  one  of  which  a  bride,  married  that  morning,  and 
not  dreaming  of  war — at  least  with  any  one  save 
her  husband — was  riding  towards  an  adjacent  vil- 
lage with  a  retinue  of  merry-making  peasants. 

When  the  Spanish  men-at-arms  were  informed 
of  the  nature  of  their  enemy,  discipline  was  momen- 
tarily forgotten  in  mirth,  and  a  volley  of  musket- 
shot  was  fired  in  honor  of  the  bride.  From  this 
circumstance  a  military  proverb  arose.  Thereaf- 
ter, if  any  Low  Country  scout  showed  fear,  he  was 
asked,  "  Have  you  seen  the  bride  ?"* 

The  ascetic  nature  of  Alva — in  whose  constitu- 
tion that  portion  of  the  human  anatomy  popularly 
supposed  to  be  synonymous  with  feeling,  and  which 
is  situated  in  the  left  side  of  the  breast-bone,  seems 
to  have  been  left  out — was  ill-fitted  to  enjoy  such  an 
interruption.  Sharply  rebuking  those  whose  care- 
lessness had  occasioned  the  delay,  he  sounded  an 
advance.!  On  the  15th  of  July  he  halted  in  the 
streets  of  Groningen.  |  After  entrenching  his 
trooj)S  in  the  suburbs,  he  himself,  without  dis- 
mounting, and  with  but  few  attendants,  rode  out  to 
reconnoitre. 

Since  his  victory  at  Heiliger-lec,  Louis  Nassau 
had  been  languidly  besieging  Groningen.  In  his 
military  chest  there  was  a  vacuum  abhorred  alike 

»  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  54.  f  Ibid. 

X  Ibid.     Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  235.     Mendoza. 

llUICh  lii:T.  24 


554  THE  DUTCH  BEFORMATION. 

by  nature  and  all  treasury  departments.  Various 
measures  hit  on  to  coerce  a  levy  from  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  adjacent  towns  had  been  substantial 
failures.*  The  peasantry,  friendly  at  heart,  were 
lukewarm  from  policy.  At  times  actual  starvation 
stared  the  invaders  in  the  face.  Of  course  the  mer- 
cenaries became  clamorous  and  turbulent.  As  a 
consequence,  they  were  inactive.  Nevertheless, 
Count  Louis,  by  liberal  distributions  of  promises, 
contrived  to  hold  his  soldiers — ten  or  twelve  thou- 
sand men,  such  as  they  weret— together,  and  to 
maintain  some  show  of  discipline.:):  His  position 
under  the  walls  of  Groningen  was  good — on  the 
immediate  front  a  deep  ditch ;  an  arrow's  flight 
beyond  the  ditch  the  river  Hunse,  spanned  by  two 
wooden  bridges,  which  pickets  were  prepared  to 
burn  at  need,  thus  isolating  the  patriot  camp.§ 

Alva's  keen  eye  could  detect  no  flaw  in  Nassau's 
position.  Still,  on  rejoining  his  troops,  he  ordered 
out  five  hundred  musketeers  to  skirmish  with  the 
gueux — less  with  the  hope  of  beating  them  from 
their  entrenchments  than  for  the  purpose  of  testing 
their  strength  and  holding  them  in  play  until  the 
Spanish  cannon  could  be  unlimbered.il 

To  the  duke's  surprise,  before  his  skirmishers 
had  fired  a  dozen  volleys.  Count  Louis'  soldiers, 

="  Corresp.  du  Due  d'Albe,  p.  124,  et  seq. 

f  Groen  van  Prinsterer  says  they  numbered  between  7,000  and 
8,000.     Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  210,  note. 
X  Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  174.     Bor.,  et  al. 
§  Ibid.     Strada,  nhi  sup. 
II  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  54.    Mendoza,  Comcntarios,  p.  59. 


DISASTKOUS  CAMPAIGNING.  555 

conquered  by  their  fears,  burned  the  bridges  and 
began  precipitately  to  retreat.  The  base  example 
had  been  set  by  the  German  mercenaries,  who,  be- 
lieving that  Nassau  was  wilfully  withholding  their 
arrears,  refused  to  fight  at  this  inauspicious  moment, 
unless  paid  in  full.  Nassau  pleaded  and  scolded 
and  argued  by  turns;  all  to  no  purpose;  nothing 
could  stay  the  ebb-tide  of  the  mutineers.""^ 

Meantime  the  Spaniards,  heated  by  the  skir- 
mish and  fired  by  the  retirement  of  the  foe,  could 
no  longer  be  restrained.  Crossing  the  blazing 
bridges,  swimming  the  rapid  river,  floundering 
through  the  ditch,  they  fiercely  assailed  the  flank 
of  the  coward  invaders.  Night  alone,  now  just  at 
hand,  prevented  the  retreat  from  becoming  a  wild 
rout.  As  it  was,  three  hundred  were  slain,  while 
as  many  more  were  smothered  in  the  abounding 
bogs — the  king  losing  but  nine  men.f 

On  the  edge  of  evening,  Alva  recalled  his  pur- 
suing squadrons..  "Lest,"  said  he,  "  they  be  en- 
trapped in  the  blind,  cozening  holes  and  pits  of 
which  this  land  is  full.":!:  That  very  night  he  sent 
off  a  courier  to  Brussels  to  announce  that  Nassau's 
forces  were  hopelessly  dispersed;  adding,  "I  shall 
complete  my  victory  on  the  morrow. "§ 

The  duke  was  mistaken;  by  masterly  general- 
ship. Count  Louis  managed  to  regather  his  scat- 

*  Strada,  torn.  2,  ]).  51.    Mendoza,  Comentarios,  p.  59.    Hoofd, 
torn.  5,  p.  174.  t  Strada,  uhi  sup.     Mendoza,  p.  62. 

J  Strada,  uhi  sup. 
§  Corresp.  du  Due  d'Albe,  pp.  ISi,  155. 


656  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

tered  coliorts.  Witli  these,  still  about  ten  thousand 
strong,  he  continued  the  retreat ;  halting  finally,  at 
the  village  of  Jemmingen,  on  the  border  of  West 
Friesland,  between  the  Dollart  and  the  river  Ems.* 
The  new  camp  was  admirably  chosen  and  guarded. 
At  their  back,  the  patriots  had  Embden,  a  friendly 
city;  whence,  by  the  Ems,  they  might  expect  pro- 
visions and  reinforcements  from  the  prince  of  Or- 
ange. About  them  Avere  many  marshes,  always 
haK-submerged,  and  impassable  save  by  a  single 
road  on  the  top  of  the  narrow  dyke  which  over- 
looked the  swelling  billows,  and  ran  directly  into 
the  camp  and  village — an  avenue  now  defended  by 
redoubts  and  ten  cannon  planted  in  its  mouth.t 
Held  by  determined  men,  this  position  would  have 
been  impregnable ;  but  fear  can  never  be  sufficiently 
entrenched. 

On  the  21st  of  July,  Alva,  who  never  slept  out 
an  opportunity,  appeared  before  Jemmingen. |  Nas- 
sau, suspicious  of  his  troops,  and  anxious  to  make 
nature  his  ally,  ordered  out  a  corps  of  pioneers  to 
open  the  sluices — a  manoeuvre  which  would  have 
laid  the  whole  adjacent  territory  under  water  ;§  for 
in  that  artificial  country  dykes  interlace  the  entire 
landscape,  and  these  are  furnished  with  floodgates, 
by  means  of  which  the  waters  are  controlled. 

The  wily  duke  perceived  this  movement,  and 
surmised  its  purpose.     A  company  of  mounted  car- 

■=-  Strada,  ut  antea.  t  Ibid. 

%  Ibid.     Mendoza,  p.  C6.     Cor.  dn  Due  d'Albe,  p.  15G. 
^  Metcreu,  folio  51.     Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  175. 


DISASTROUS  CAMPAIGNING.         557 

bineers  were  at  once  thrown  forward  to  reclose  the 
half-opened  sluices;  which  they  did,  after  a  stub- 
born contest.*     At  this  critical  moment  the  German 
mercenaries  again  mutinied.     When  they  should 
have  been  in  line  of  battle,  they  stood  clamoring  for 
their  arrears  round  Count  Louis'  tent.t     Apprized 
of  this  unseasonable  insubordination  by  deserters, 
Alva  pushed  his  whole  army  up  the  one  road  to 
the  village,  cut  down  the  few  faithful  soldiers  who 
attempted  to  dispute  the  passage,  scrambled  over 
the  redoubts,  and  was  victorious  without  a  strug- 
gle.|     Count  Louis'  cannon  were  fired  but  once, 
and  then  by  his  own  hand.§     A  frightful  slaughter 
instantly  commenced.     Turning  their  own  artillery 
against  them,  the  remorseless  duke  swept  down  his 
foemen  in  platoons.     Hundreds  of  the  coward  mer- 
cenaries were  cut  to  pieces  offering  their  backs  to 
the  sword,  as  slaves  do  theirs  to  the  master's  whip. 
The  river  too  was  choked  with  the  flying,  most  of 
whom  were  drowned  by  the  weight  of  their  armor ; 
while  those  who  contrived  to  swim  were  made  tar- 
gets of,  and  shot  like  so  many  ducks  by  the  laugh- 
ing Spaniards.!     The  citizens  of  Embden  learned 
the  issue  of  the  fight  long  before  Alva's  couriers 
came  into  town,  by  the  multitudes  of  patriot  hats 
which  floated  down  the  stream  ;1  as,  many  centuries 

»  Meteren,  folio  51.     Hoofcl,  torn:  5,  p.  175.    Meucloza. 
t  Stracla,  torn.  2,  p.  55. 

X  Mendoza,  Comentarios,  pp.  67,  68.     Strada,  torn.  2,  pp.  55, 
56.     Meteren,  folio  54. 

§  Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  176.  ||  Strada,  ubi  sup. 

II  Ibid. 


558  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

•before,  when  the  Eomaus  battled  with  the  Sabines 
on  the  banks  of  the  Arno,  they  at  Eome,  seeing  the 
arms  of  the  Sabines  floating  upon  the  Tiber,  into 
which  the  Arno  empties,  forestalled  the  messengers 
by  their  jjre-knowledge  of  the  joyful  tidings. 

The  victory  was  complete.  The  Spanish  loss 
was  not  above  seventy ;  that  of  the  invaders  was 
between  sis  and  seven  thousand  men.*  The  whole 
camp  was  Alva's  spoil — baggage,  provisions,  can- 
non ;  among  the  rest  the  sis  musical  pieces  captured 
at  Heiliger-lee,  fell  into  his  greedy  maw.f  TIius 
terribly  was  Aremberg  avenged. 

For  a  time  it  was  supposed  that  Nassau  had 
perished  in  the  rout,  his  clothes  having  been  found 
among  the  spoils  of  the  conflict.:|:  His  hour  had  not 
come.  Though  fighting  to  the  last,  death  had 
shunned  him.  When  all  hope  had  fled,  he  stripped 
off  his  dress,  swam  the  Ems,  crossed  into  Germany, 
and  with  a  handful  of  travel  and  blood-stained 
attendants,  rejoined  the  prince  of  Orange.  § 

That  very  night,  ere  leaving  the  battle-ground, 
the  fanatic  conqueror  despatched  a  messenger  to 
acquaint  the  pontiff  with  the  news ;  and  upon  its 
reception  the  holy  father  commanded  three  succes- 
sive days  of  thanksgiving  to  be  kept  in  as  many  of 
the  chiefest  churches ;  while  bonfires,  chimes  of 
bells,  and  salvos  of  artillery  betokened,  and  rang 

o  Strada,  uU  sup.  Meteren,  folio  55.  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  245,  ei 
seq.     Campana,  Gucr.  di  Fiancl.,  lib.  2,  p.  54.  -j-  Ibid. 

t  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  56. 
§  Meteren,  folio  55.     Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  17G. 


DISASTEOUS  CAMPAIGNING.         551) 

out,  and  thundered  forth  the  pious  joy  of  Kome.* 
At  the  same  time,  the  provinces  were  ordered  to 
celebrate  the  victory  with  processions  and  joy-bells 
and  Te  Beums.-f  Justice  had  just  had  its  throat 
cut :  it  was  natural  that  Eomo  should  celebrate  the 
murder  with  the  meretricious  mummeries  of  a  spec- 
tacular religion. 

Having  thus  routed  and  rejoiced  over  the  inva- 
ders, Alva  bethought  him  of  still  farther  vengeance. 
Had  not  thousands  of  the  Frieslanders  sympathized 
with  Nassau  ?  Had  not  many  of  their  towns  ad- 
hered to  him  ?  Momentarily  relaxing  his  iron  dis- 
cipline, the  governor-general  permitted  his  men-at- 
arms  to  spread  the  wings  of  their  desolation  and 
sweep  the  whole  frontier.  Jemmingen  was  fired, 
after  the  inhabitants,  of  all  ages,  of  both  sexes,  had 
been  slain,  Hermes  Bakkereel,  the  reformed  minis- 
ter, being  stabbed  to  the  heart  in  the  arms  of  his 
daughter.:!:  Speeding  thence,  the  pitiless  victors 
carried  death  and  dishonor  in  all  directions.  Maids 
and  matrons  were  ravished  before  the  eyes  of 
fathers  and  husbands. §  The  water  in  the  ditches 
ran  thick  with  blood.  The  very  earth  seemed 
changed  to  ashes.H 

In  this  guise  Alva  marched  to  Groningen,  where 
he  forced  the  unwilling  citizens  to  receive  John 
Kniffius,  designated  bishop  of  the  town  in  Gran- 

*  Strada,  uhl  sup.,  p.  57. 

t  Davies,  vol.  1,  p.  5G3.     Mendoza. 

X  Campana,  Guer.  di  Fiand,  lib.  2,  p.  55.  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  268. 

§  Mendoza  and  Bor.    Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  222. 

II  Motley,  ut  aniea. 


560  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

velle's  day.*  From  Groningen,  he  took  liis  way 
through  Amsterdam  to  Utrecht,  proceeding  thence 
to  Bois-le-Duci"  In  all  these  towns  havoc  and  the 
headsman  waited  on  his  footsteps.  The  iconoclasts 
had  been  rampant  in  this  whole  section,  and  here  it 
was  that  Brederode  had  received  aid  and  comfort : 
worst  of  all,  in  Alva's  eyes,  Amsterdam  and  Utrecht 
and  Bois-le-Duc  were  strongholds  of  heresy.  Against 
all  these  classes  of  offenders  his  anger  was  inexo- 
rable. Woe  betide  the  man  or  woman,  child  or 
adult,  upon  whom  even  the  shadow  of  a  suspicion 
fell.  Any  one  whom  the  most  searching  inquiries 
could  connect  with  the  opponents  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion, with  the  image-breakers,  with  the  guciix,  was 
lost  beyond  a  peradventure.  At  Haarlem,  on  the 
29th  of  July,  three  peasants — one  a  former  soldier 
of  Brederode,  one  a  suspected  breaker  of  images, 
one  a  writer  of  verses  against  the  pope — were  hung.:}: 
At  Utrecht,  a  little  later,  an  aged  gentlewoman,  the 
Vrow  van  Diemen,  was  convicted  of  having  per- 
mitted her  son  to  entertain  a  reformed  preacher 
over  night,  without  denouncing  him  to  the  holy 
office.  She  was  herself  a  Komanist;  but  her  in- 
come of  four  thousand  guilders  per  annum  was  an 
unpardonable  crime.  On  being  conducted  to  the 
scaffold,  she  did  not  flinch.  "  Is  your  sword  sharp?" 
asked  she,  as  the  executioner  prepared  to  deal  her 
Ifche  fatal  blow ;  "  because  my  poor  old  neck  is  very 
tough."§    In  this  same   city  of  Utrecht,  another 

*  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  270.    Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  58. 

f  Brandt,  uhi  sup.    Mendoza.     |  Brandt,  uU  sup.      §  Ibid. 


DISASTEOUS  CAMPAIGNING.  561 

lad}^  a  widow,  was  beheaded  a  month  after  the 
Vrow  van  Diemen,  because  she  had  encouraged  her 
boy  to  frequent  the  conventicles  of  the  reformed ; 
though  rumor  had  it  at  the  time  that  the  prosecu- 
ting attorney,  to  whom  she  had  made  heavy  loans, 
had  taken  this  "  new  way  to  pay  old  debts."* 

Thus  precarious  was  the  hold  which  the  wretch- 
ed Netherlanders  had  upon  existence ;  thus  strong 
was  their  inducement  so  to  live  that  they  might  in- 
herit mansions  inalienable,  eternal,  when  death  fore- 
closed its  mortgage  on  their  fleshly  habitations. 

For  Philip,  he  was  fanatically  impressed  with 
his  mission :  it  was  his  enthusiasm  to  personify  the 
wrath  of  God  against  heretics.  For  Alva,  it  was 
his  enthusiasm  to  personify  the  wrath  of  Philip.f 

"  These  were  two  wits  ;  one  born  so,  and  the  other  bred  ; 
This  by  the  heart,  the  other  by  the  head." 

From  this  inquisitorial  campaign  against  un- 
armed men  and  feeble  women,  with  which  he  was 
supplementing  his  victory  in  the  field,  Alva  was 
soon  summoned  by  other  duties.  Couriers,  con- 
stantly arriving,  informed  him  that  revolt,  routed  in 
the  north,  was  afoot  on  the  borders  of  the  middle 
provinces ;  that  this  time  Orange  in  person  was  at 
the  head  of  large  levies,  armed  for  the  liberation  of 

the  states.  :t 

Impressed  by  the  gravity  of  this  news,  the  gov- 
ernor-general delegated  the  farther  punishment  of 
the  heretics  to  the  blood-judges  and  their  satellites, 

o  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  270.  f  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  178. 

X  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  58.     Mendoza,  Bor.,  Hoofd. 
24* 


562  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

and  prepared  to  cope  with  this  new  antagonist.  At  • 
Utrecht,  his  son,  Don  Frederic  de  Toledo,  had  met 
him  with  a  large  instalment  of  Spanish  doubloons 
and  a  reinforcement  of  twenty-five  hundred  vete- 
rans fresh  from  Castile.*  The  money  he  threw  into 
his  strong  box,  the  men-at-arms  he  ordered  into 
rank ;  and  on  reviewing  his  army,  was  gratified  to 
learn  that  he  had  thirty  thousand  foot  and  seven 
thousand  horse  in  camp.f  With  this  chivalrous 
following,  the  duke,  taking  Brussels  in  his  way,  push- 
ed towards  the  menaced  frontiers  of  Juliers  and  Lim- 
burg  in  good  heart  and  hope.  Finally,  he  halted 
and  intrenched  himself  at  Kaisers-lager,  where, 
before  the  Christian  era,  Julius  Caesar's  camp-fires 
had  been  lighted. :{:  Here,  with  Maestricht  on  the 
river  Meuse  sufiiciently  near  to  be  defended  by  his  , 
presence,  and  convenient  as  a  de}M  of  suppKes, 
Alva  decided  to  await  the  incoming  of  the  prince, 
as  to  whose  position  he  was  in  doubt.§ 

Meantime,  AYilliam  of  Orange,  victorious  over 
manifold  discouragements,  was  in  the  field.  He 
knew  that  he  was  stirring  at  the  eleventh  hour, 
that  the  time  was  "  rotten  ripe ;"  that  he  should 
have  cooperated  with  Count  Louis  by  entering  the 
middle  provinces  while  Alva  was  absent  in  the 
north,  and  before  the  trophies  won  at  Heiliger-leo 
were  reclutched  at  Jemmingen ;  but  alas,  the  want 

*  Strada,  uhi  sup. 

j  De  Thoii,   torn.  5,  p.   462.      Otlier  aiitliorities  reduce  this 
force  materially.    Vide  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  61.   Meudoza,  pp.  76,  77. 
X  Metereu,  folio  56.  §  Ibid.,  Campaua,  Hoofd,  d  <illi. 


•  DISASTROUS  CAMPAIGNING.         563 

of  money,  felt  equally  in  recruiting  troops  and  in 
enforciug  discipline  after  tliey  were  enrolled,  fatally 
retarded  the  formation  of  bis  corps ;  while  Nassau, 
similarly  straitened,  and  therefore  imable  to  retreat 
and  stand  idle,  was  forced  prematurely  into  action ; 
with  what  result  we  know. 

William's  pleadings  for  funds  were  pathetic. 
"  If  you  have  any  love  for  me,"  wrote  he  to  his 
friend  the  landgrave  of  Hesse,  "I  beseech  you  to 
aid  me  privately  with  a  sum  sufficient  to  meet  the 
demands  of  the  army  for  the  first  month.  "Without 
this  I  shall  be  in  danger  of  failing  in  my  engage- 
ments— to  me  worse  than  death,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  ruin  which  such  a  failure  would  bring  upon  our 
credit  and  on  the  cause."* 

The  response  was  not  ready.  The  disasters  of 
the  patriots  had  still  farther  chilled  the  always 
lukewarm  hearts  of  the  prince's  allies.  The  Ger- 
man potentates  began  to  counsel  dela3^t  Maxi- 
milian forbade  the  preparations  to  go  on — discov- 
ering the  neutrality  laws  in  the  light  of  Alva's 
success.^ 

A  victim  of  that  "  hope  deferred"  which  "mak- 
etli  the  heart  sick,"  Wilham  nevertheless  persisted. 
Doubt  is  the  foe  by  whose  subjection  the  young 
knight  of  truth  wins  his  spurs.  The  statesman 
prince  had  conquered  doubt.  He  knew  that  God 
reigned ;  therefore   he  felt   certain   of  success   in 

C"  Archives  de  la  Maison  cVOraDge-Nassau,  Sui:>plement,  p.  89. 
t  Cor.  tic  Guillaume  Ic  Taciturne,  toni.  3,  pp.  1-19. 
X  Ibid. 


564  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

heaven's  good  time — ^he  could  afford  to  be  patient. 
A  firm,  honest,  enlightened  Christian,  he  had  al- 
ready openly  announced  his  adherence  to  the  Refor- 
mation.* Steadfast  faith — faith  which  grew  serener 
as  the  prospect  darkened,  was  his  most  marked 
trait  at  this  period.  Even  Count  Louis'  overthrow 
did  not  appall  him.  On  learning  of  the  rout,  he 
thus  wrote  his  brother:  "You  may  be  well  assured 
that  I  have  never  felt  any  thing  more  keenly  than 
the  pitiable  misfortune  which  has  overtaken  you, 
for  many  reasons  which  you  know.  Moreover,  it 
hinders  us  much  in  the  levy  which  we  are  making, 
and  has  greatly  chilled  the  hearts  of  those  who 
otherwise  would  have  been  ready  to  assist  us. 
Nevertheless,  since  it  is  God's  will,  it  is  necessary 
to  have  patience,  and  not  to  lose  courage ;  conform- 
ing ourselves  to  his  divine  pleasure,  as,  for  my  part, 
I  have  prayed  for  strength  to  do  in  all  things,  still 
proceeding  with  his  work  with  his  almighty  aid."t 

Not  a  reproachful,  not  a  grumbling  word ;  naught 
but  the  most  Christian  resignation.  What  could 
long  resist  such  a  spirit? 

The  execution  of  Egmont  and  Horn  was  of 
material  assistance  to  Orange.  Upper  Germany 
was  as  indignant  as  the  Netherlands.  "  Sire,"  said 
the  imperial  ambassador  at  Madrid  to  Philip, 
"Alva's  axe  is  WilHam's  best  ally."|  And  so  it 
proved;  for  the  elector  of  Bavaria,  Augustus  of 
Saxony,  landgrave  "William,  and  the  rest,  threw  the 

*  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  243.        f  Archives,  etc.,  torn.  3,  p.  276. 
X  Correspondance  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  37. 


DISASTROUS  CAMPAIGNING.  565 

whole  weight  of  then-  influence  into  the  patriot 
scale;*  though  their  enthusiasm  was  evanescent, 
much  of  their  sorrowful  anger  venting  itself  in  tears 
of  ink. 

Such  as  it  was,  however,  the  prince  hastened  to 
take  advantage  of  it.  Eecruiting  was  pushed  with 
increased  energy,  and  with  gratifying  success.  Near 
the  end  of  September,  1568,  upwards  of  twenty- 
eight  thousand  well-armed  men  responded  to  their 
names,  as  William's  camp-master  called  the  roll 
under  the  eaves  of  the  monastery  of  Eomersdorf, 
in  the  province  of  Treves,  the  patriot  rendezvous.f 
To  the  German  pikemen  and  arquebusiers — sixteen 
thousand  strong — the  count  palatine,  the  duke  ot 
Wurtemberg,  and  the  city  of  Strasburg  had  prom- 
ised four  months'  pay.|  The  maintenance  of  the 
horse — eight  thousand  riders§ — had  been  underta- 
ken by  the  prince,  assisted  by  Count  Louis,  Hoogs- 
traaten,  and  some  others,  whose  promises  were 
fuller  than  their  purses.H  Marcus  Perez,  too,  a 
wealthy  and  patriotic  merchant  of  Antwerp — un- 
awed  by  the  recent  execution  of  his  fellow-towns- 
man, the  burgher  Croesus,  Antony  Yan  StraalenlF — 
had  engaged  to  pour  three  hundred  thousand  crowns 
into  the  exchequer  of  the  cause,  as  the  contingent 
of  the  nobles  and  traders  of  the  states.** 

On  the  31st  of  August,  just  before  completing 

«  Stracla,  torn.  2,  p.  58. 

t  Ibid.     Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  183.  J  Strada,  ubi  sup. 

§  Ibid.      But  compare  Meteren,  folio  55.     Hoofd,   uhi  sup., 
Campana,  Bentivoglio,  et  alii.  ||  Strada,  itLi  sup. 

^  Vide  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  2-i7,  el  scq.         **  Strada,  torn.  2.  p.  58. 


566  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

his  levies,  Orange,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  land- 
grave of  Hesse,  published  the  "Justification" — a 
famous  document,  in  which  he  vindicated  himself 
and  his  cause  from  the  charges  of  Granvellc,  Alva, 
and  the  king.* 

A  few  days  later,  William  issued  two  additional 
state  papers — one,  a  declaration  of  war  against  the 
duke  of  Alva ;  the  other  a  proclamation  to  the  peo- 
ple of  the  Netherlands.  In  the  declaration,  after 
adverting  to  the  reintroduction  of  the  Inquisition, 
to  the  subversion  of  the  charters,  to  the  intolerable 
wrongs  of  the  Low-Countrymen,  boors,  peasants, 
burghers,  and  grandees,  he  said :  "  We  summon  all 
honest  men  to  come  and  help  us.  Pray  God  that 
you  may  take  to  heart  the  uttermost  need  of  your 
country,  the  danger  of  personal  slavery  for  your- 
selves and  your  children,  and  of  the  overtlirow  of 
the  evangelical  religion.  Only  with  Alva's  downfall 
can  the  states  recover  their  privileges  and  their 
faith. "t  In  the  proclamation,  he  announced  his 
intention  to  expel  the  Spaniards  from  the  provinces, 
and  solemnly  invoked  the  aid  of  the  oppressed 
against  the  tyrant.^ 

Late  in  September,  Orange  crossed  the  Rhine, 
swept  along  the  banks  of  the  Meuse,  and  tempora- 
rily encamped  opposite  Alva's  entrenchments  near 
Maestricht.§  The  duke,  doubly  defended  by  his 
redoubts  and  by  the  river,  which  he  considered 

*  Arch,  de  la  Maison  d' Orange-Nassau,  torn.  3,  p.  183,  et  seq. 
t  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  253,  et  seq.  Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  249. 
J  Ibid.  §  Strada,  uhi  sup. 


DISASTEOUS  CAMPAIGNING.         567 

unfordable,  smoothed  his  beard  and  smiled  deris- 
ively. But  "where  there's  a  will  there's  a  way." 
On  the  night  and  morning  of  the  4th  and  5th  of 
October,  the  prince,  in  imitation  of  Caesar's  passage 
of  the  Ligeris  and  Cicoris,  placed  some  companies 
of  dragoons  just  above  the  shallowest  of  the  fords, 
to  break  the  force  of  the  current;  then,  aided  by 
this  human  dam,  commanded  his  infantry  to  wade 
silently  across  the  Meuse.'^  It  was  safely  done, 
though  the  water  came  up  to  the  necks  of  the  sol- 
diers ;t  and  Orange  stood  once  more  on  Netherlaud 
soil,  coming  not  as  a  revolutionist,  but  as  a  cham- 
pion of  law.  "Pro  Lege,  Rege,  Grege,''  this  was  the 
motto  inscribed  upon  one  side  of  his  banners ;  and 
on  the  reverse  was  the  painting  of  a  pehcan  feeding 
her  young  with  her  own  life-blood.:]: 

Upon  being  told  that  the  prince  had  crossed  the 
Meuse,  Alva  was  incredulous.  "  Is  the  traitor  army 
a  flock  of  birds,  that  it  can  fly  over  rivers  like  the 
Meuse?"  queried  he.§  And  a  citizen  of  Amster- 
dam was  scourged  at  the  whipping-post  for  having 
mentioned  the  passage  as  a  rumor.H  However, 
the  duke's  own  eyes  soon  convinced  him;  for, 
marching  within  cannon-shot  of  Alva's  camp,  Will- 
iam formally  challenged  a  battle  by  beat  of  drum 
and  blare  of  tirumpet  and  the  waving  of  defiant 
ensigns.^  With  him,  a  stricken  field  was  an  actual 
necessity.     His  means  were  slender;  his  soldiers 

«  Stracla,  torn.  2,  p.  59.     Meteren,  folio  56.  f  Ibid. 

X  Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  184.  §  Strada,  iM  sup. 

II  Hoofd,  iM  sup.  ^  Strada,  ubl  sup. 


568  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

were  enlisted  for  short  terms ;  upon  his  arms  there 
"was  the  stigma  of  defeat;  the  masses  were  over- 
awed by  the  spell  of  Alva's  invincibility ;  a  victory 
here  in  the  heart  of  Brabant  would  be  ruinous  to 
the  governor-general,  as  greatly  hated  as  feared; 
and  if  himself  beaten,  there  at  least  was  Germany, 
whence  he  had  come. 

But  Alva  was  too  wary  to  pick  up  the  gauntlet. 
Every  motive  which  prompted  Orange  to  make  the 
campaign  short  and  incisive,  impelled  him  to  adopt 
his  favorite  policy  of  delusion  and  delay.  He  knew 
that  the  result  of  a  battle  was  doubtful,  at  best; 
that  defeat  would  rob  him  of  the  provinces ;  that  the 
narrowness  of  William's  finances  would  not  long 
support  an  army;  that  winter  was  hard  by;  that 
poverty  and  the  frost  would  fight  for  him ;  that  the 
rebel  ranks  would  speedily  be  thinned  by  deser- 
tion ;  that  a  rout  could  no  more  than  anticipate  the 
already  inevitable  dissolution  of  the  invasion :  and 
he  would  rather  have  the  victory  slow  and  secure 
than  dubious  and  bloody.*  The  duke's  plan  was 
twofold ;  he  meant  to  weary  his  antagonist  by  fruit- 
less marches  and  countermarches ;  and  he  intended 
to  compel  the  patriots  to  shiver  in  the  open  coun- 
try, by  protecting  all  those  cities  in  which  they 
might  winter  and  find  plunder  ;t  but  jeopard  any- 
thing he  would  not. 

Vainly,  therefore,  did  Orange  offer  battle.  Vain- 
ly did  the  fiery  spirits  of  the  Spaniards  chafe  at  the 
insults  showered  on  them  by  a  foe  whom  they  de- 

*  Strada,  torn.  %  p.  61.  f  Ibid.,  p.  60. 


DISASTKOUS  CAMPAIGNING.  569 

spised.  Alva  was  as  indifferent  to  the  one  as  to 
the  other — an  unfeeling  automaton.*  Twenty-nine 
times  did  the  prince  change  his  encampment. 
Twenty-nine  times  also  did  the  duke  remove,  keep- 
ing always  behind,  in  front  of,  or  beside  his  foe. 
Equal  was  the  vigilance  of  the  opposing  com- 
manders, equal  the  skill  with  which  each  chose 
his  ground.    It  was  Fabius  Cunctator  against  Han- 

nibal.t 

Though  Alva  was  careful  to  avoid  a  general 
engagement,  the  outposts  of  the  two  armies,  moving 
thus  side  by  side,  and  especially  their  respective 
foragers,  came  incessantly  in  contact.  Success 
inclined  sometimes  to  one  side,  sometimes  to  the 
other,  in  this  partisan  warfare.  On  one  occasion, 
at  the  river  Geta,  Alva's  advance  under  Don  Fred- 
eric de  Toledo  and  the  fiery  Italian  Chiappino  Yi- 
telli,  assailed  and  routed  the  rear  guard  of  the 
prince.J  In  the  fight,  Hoogstraaten  received  his 
death- wound. §  A  faithful  fiiend,  a  gallant  soldier, 
he  was  greatly  mourned.  A  few  days  afterwards, 
at  Le  Quesnay,  and  again  at  Chateau  Cambray, 
William  retaliated,  achieving  two  unimportant  but 
inspiriting  victories.il 

In  the  meantime,  cold  weather  came  on,  and  the 
necessities  of  Orange  advanced  with  the  season,  as 
Alva  had  foreseen.  Of  the  three  hundred  thousand 
crowns  promised  by  Marcus  Perez,  but  ten  tliou- 

«  Strada,  torn.  2,  pp.  62,  63. 

f  Ibid.     Mendoza,  p.  88,  d  seq.  t  Ibid. 

§  Strada,  id  antea.    Mendoza,  Bor.,  Campaua.        .    ||  Ibid. 


570  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

sand  were  sent  *  Without  money,  without  clothes, 
without  provisions,  denied  admission  into  the  chief 
towns,  in  the  midst  of  a  population  secretly  friendly 
but  afraid  to  show  it,  letting  "I  dare  not"  wait  upon 
"I  would,"  constantly  harassed  by  an  unsleeping 
enemy — the  condition  and  prospects  of  the  patriot 
forces  became  desperate.  A  small  reinforcement  of 
Huguenot  volunteers,  led  into  camp  by  the  count 
De  Genlis,  served  but  to  increase  the  suffering  by 
the  addition  of  so  many  unfed  mouths  and  empty 
pockets,  t  The  troops  began  to  murmur,  then  to 
mutiny;  and  in  one  outbreak  William's  sword  was 
shot  from  his  side.:|: 

Of  course,  with  such  a  following  it  was  impossi- 
ble to  keep  the  field.  The  prince  made  an  effort  to 
persuade  his  army  to  follow  him  to  the  assistance 
of  Cond6  ;  in  vain  :  they  had  enlisted  to  fight  Alva, 
not  to  war  in  France.§  Sad,  but  not  dismayed,  ho 
recrossed  into  Germany,  and  in  November,  1568, 
disbanded  his  troops  at  Strasburg.H  Money  he 
lacked,  therefore  the  arrears  of  the  men-at-arms 
could  not  be  paid  at  once ;  but  he  mortgaged  his 
lordship  of  Montfort  and  the  principality  of  Orange 
as  security  for  the  debt! — upright  and  generous  to 
the  last.  This  done,  and  accompanied  by  Count 
Louis  and  twelve  hundred  devoted  cavaliers,  he 

*  Hoofd,  torn.  5,  j).  183.    Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  251,  et  seq. 

t  Meteren,  folio  56.     Mendozfi,  pp.  87,  88. 

X  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  61. 

§  De  Thou.     Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  263. 

II  Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  188.     Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  63. 

^  Arch,  de  la  Maison  d'Orange-Nassau,  torn.  3,  p.  334,  et  seq. 


DISASTROUS  CAMPAIGNING.         571 

passed  iuto  France  to  assist  the  Huguenots,  and 
to  concert  new  measures  for  tlie  liberation  of  his 
country.* 

"  Archives  et  Correspondance,  torn.  3,  p.  316.      Campan.a,  lib. 
■2  pp.  59,  Gl.     De  Thou,  Ub.  43,  caj).  19. 


572  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

CHAPTEE    XXXII. 

ALVA'S  MILLENNIUM. 

CoiSTTEMPORANEOUSLY  with  tlie  Campaign  in  tlie 
Netherlands,  and  for  some  months  after  its  disas- 
trous end,  the  German  emperor  and  Philip  II.  were 
engaged  in  a  diplomatic  game  which  it  will  interest 
us  to  observe. 

On  the  22d  of  September,  1568,  the  six  electors 
of  the  empire,  fierce  Protestants,  and  anxious  to 
succor  the  Low  Country  evangehcals,  addressed  a 
solemn  memorial  to  Maximilian,  in  which,  after 
thanking  him  for  his  previous  interposition,  they 
vividly  outlined  the  abhorrent  cruelties  of  the  gov- 
ernor-general, and  besought  their  sovereign  to  re- 
sume his  mediation.* 

The  suave  emperor,  persuaded  that  he  had 
nothing  to  lose  thereby,  and  willing  to  pleasure  the 
princes,  acceded.  "  We  will  despatch  our  brother 
the  archduke  Charles  on  a  special  mission  to  Ma- 
drid," said  he,  "and  he  shall  represent  our  wdshes."t 

Within  thirty  days  after  the  date  of  the  electo- 
rial  request,  the  archduke  started  to  perform  this 
duty.  In  his  portmanteau  there  was  an  ample  let- 
ter of  instructions,  which  a  sentence  shall  summa- 
rize :  the  negotiator  was  told  to  refer  to  the  follow- 
ing of  Orange  as  evidence  of  his  hold  on  the  sym- 
«  Cor.  de  PhUippe  IL,  torn.  2,  p.  791.  t  Ibid.,  p.  793. 


ALVA'S  MILLENNIUM,  573 

patliy  of  the  empire,  and  as  proof  of  the  impossi- 
bility of  banning  liim,  as  Alva  had  demanded;  to 
request  the  substitution  of  clemency  for  severity  in 
the  government  of  the  provinces ;  and  to  ask  for  the 
recall  of  the  foreign  mercenaries.*  Then,  having 
seen  his  brother  off,  the  emperor  sent  envoys  to  the 
rival  camps  of  Alva  and  the  prince  to  request  them 
to  await  the  result  of  the  intervention  ere  proceed- 
ing with  their  scientific  duel — a  proposition  which 
each,  convinced  of  the  futility  of  the  embassage, 
refused  to  accept.t 

On  the  journey  to  Madrid  the  archduke  Charles 
was  told  of  the  sudden  death  of  Queen  Isabella — 
poisoned  in  a  fit  of  jealousy  by  her  royal  husband, 
if  we  may  credit  the  light  pages  of  contemporaneous 
diarists,  often  indeed  mere  chroniques  scandaleuses-X 

Upon  learning  this  news,  Maximilian  began  to 
think  the  mediation  a  mistake.  He  was  the  father 
of  sixteen  children,  several  of  whom  were  marriage- 
able daugliters.§  Unawed  by  the  phantom  which 
arose  from  Isabella's  grave — the  supply  being  so 
much  in  excess  of  the  demand  in  the  matrimonial 
market,  he  could  not  afford  to  be  particular — he  at 
once  reflected  that  the  king  of  Spain  would  make  a 
most  desirable  son-in-law. 

*  CorresiJ.  cle  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  797.  Vide  Brandt's  Sum- 
mary, vol.  1,  p.  276. 

f  Instructions  of  the  Ai-chduke  Charles,  in  Correspondance  de 
Philippe  II.,  ut  antea. 

I  Vide  the  very  interesting  chapter  on  Isabella's  death  in 
Prescott's  Philip  11.,  vol.  2,  p.  588,  et  seq. 

§  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  208. 


574  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

AccordiDgly,  on  tlie  17tli  of  January,  1569,  be- 
fore his  plenipotentiary  liad  opened  his  letter  of 
instructions  in  Philip's  presence,  the  emperor  wrote 
an  autograph  note  to  his  "beloved  cousin,"  in  which 
he  averred  that  he  had  no  wish  to  vex  such  a  model 
Christian  and  monarch,  and  made  but  a  nominal 
intervention.  "  Whichever  way  it  goes,"  quoth  he, 
"  I  shall  be  satisfied."*  Had  there  been  any  doubt, 
as  there  was  not,  "which  way  it  would  go,"  of  course 
this  disclaimer  would  have  been  decisive. 

Upon  going  again  to  the  archduke's  portman- 
teau, we  find  the  key  to  this  complacent  letter — 
Maximilian  had  empowered  the  ambassador  to 
make  to  the  widowed  monarch  an  offer  of  the  con- 
solatory hand  of  his  daughter,  the  archduchess 
Anne.t  To  be  sure,  the  emperor  had  married  Phil- 
ip's sister,  so  that  the  projDOsed  bride  was  her  hus- 
band's niece  iX  but  then  there  was  the  pope — a  dis- 
pensation from  him  would  set  aside  the  laws  of 
nature  and  make  all  right. 

The  result  was  that  Philip,  after  snubbing  the 
electors  for  their  interference,!  and  soundly  rating 
the  emperor  for  his  toleration  of  heresy,||  gloomily 
accepted  the  hand  of  the  archduchess  Anne,  "not 
for  his  personal  gratification,  but  because  the  death 
of  Don  Carlos  had  left  him  without  a  son."1F  Per- 
haps also  there  was  another  and  an  unspoken  rea- 

*  Corresp.  de  Philippe  IT.,  torn.  2,  p.  817. 

\  Ibid.,  p.  835.  %  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  289. 

§  Cabreza,  Vita  de  Filipe  Segimde,  p.  578,  et  seq. 

II  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  835.  IT  Ibid. 


ALVA'S  MILLENNIUM.  575 

son.  After  this  marriage,  the  king  may  have 
thought  that  the  prince  of  Orange  would  hardly 
venture  to  make  Maximilian's  territories  his  recruit- 
ing-ground. 

While  the  warp  and  the  woof  of  the  future  were 
thus  forming  in  Spain  and  at  the  imperial  court, 
Alva  was  entering  Brussels  with  the  insolent  port 
of  an  Alexander  who  could  find  no  fresh  worlds  to 
conquer.  Successful  in  the  north,  in  the  east,  in 
the  south,  in  the  west;  triumphant  over  the  chosen 
champion  of  liberty,  who,  bankrupt  alike  in  purse 
and  fame,  was  now  a  broken  fugitive,  is  it  strange 
that  the  governor-general  should  have  believed  im- 
plicitly in  the  impregnability  of  the  vice-regal  throne 
in  all  time  to  come  ?  Even  Granvelle,  a  close  ob- 
server of  the  campaign  from  the  dome  of  St.  Peter's, 
was  exultant.  "  I  felt  sure  of  the  result,"  wrote  he 
to  Philip ;  "  the  duke  of  Alva  is  a  man  upon  whose 
administrative  prudence  and  military  skill  you  may 
rely.  There  is  no  one  in  the  rebel  ranks,  least  of 
all  Orange,  who  has  sufficient  brains  to  organize  an 
efficient  insurrection.  And  as  £or  this  same  beggar 
prince,  he  will  now  be  much  embarrassed  to  satisfy 
his  creditors."* 

Alva  celebrated  his  victory  with  magnificent 
fetes.  Not  the  triumphs  of  the  haughtiest  of  the 
Roman  conquerors  had  ever  surpassed  the  victori- 
ous pomp  which  this  inflated  soldier  led  down  his 
"  Via  Sacra."  True,  one  half  of  Brussels  was  sad, 
while  the  other  half  was  sullen;  those  sorrowing 
«  Corresp.  dc  Pliilippc  II..  torn.  2,  pp.  792,  795,  812. 


576  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

for  William's  defeat,  these  wisliing  tliat  some  otli^er 
Lad  achieved  a  success  in  itself  desirable.*  Never- 
theless, though  the  whole  city  was  "  contracted  in 
one  brow  of  woe,"  all  were  forced  to  smile,  to  sing 
liosannas,  to  ring  joy-bells,  to  deck  out  the  capital 
in  gala  flowers — even  houses  whence  funeral  hatch- 
ments for  murdered  inmates  were  suspended! — to 
witness  the  joustings  in  the  market-place ;  for  the 
very  square  in  which  Egmont  and  Horn  and  a  thou- 
sand more  had  been  decapitated  was  transformed 
into  a  tilt-yard;!  ^^^  ^o  listen  to  Te  Deums  chanted 
in  the  churches  of  a  spurious  Christianity — of  "a 
rehgion,"  to  borrow  Sydney  Smith's  definition  of 
Puseyism,  "  of  posture  and  imposture,  of  circum- 
flection  and  genuflection,  of  bowing  to  the  east  and 
courtesyings  to  the  west,  with  such  like  absurdities." 

Yet  even  these  demonstrations  did  not  satisfy 
the  governor-general.  He  felt  that,  as  the  inaugu- 
rator  of  this  varnished  millennium,  he  was  deser- 
ving of  some  personal  recognition,  .distinct,  pecu- 
liar. What  could  be  fitter  to  immortalize  his  actions 
than  a  statue  built  of  his  trophies  ? 

Accordingly,  he  caused  the  cannon  taken  at 
Jemmingen  to  be  melted,  shaped  into  a  colossal 
efiigy  of  himself,  and  set  uj)  in  the  citadel  at  Ant- 
werp.§  This  "brazen  image"  represented  Alva 
armed  cap-a-pie,\  with  right  arm  uplifted,  trampling 

«  Strada,  torn.  4,  p.  C4.  t  Bor.,  torn.  4,  p.  257. 

t  Strada,  wti  sup.  .    §  Ibid.     Box.,  uU  sup. 

11  Strada  says  the  head  was  bare ;  'tis  best  to  be  correct  in  a 
matter  of  such  moment. 


ALVA'S  MILLENNIUM.  577 

upon  a  prostrate  hybrid  with  two  heads,  four  arms, 
and  one  body — signifying  two  of  the  three  estates 
of  the  Low  Countries;  the  lords  and  commons,  as 
some  said,  or  Egmont  and  Horn,  according  to  an- 
other interpretation.*  On  the  pedestal  was  carved 
this  inscription :  "  To  the  duke  of  Alva,  the  most 
faithful  minister  of  the  best  of  kings,  Philip  II.  of 
Spain,  because,  extinguishing  combustions,  chas- 
tising rebellion,  restoring  religion,  executing  justice, 
he  settled  peace  in  these  provinces,  this  statue  is 
erected."t 

Many  centuries  before  the  rout  at  Jemmingen, 
a  similar  event  occurred.  In  the  same  province  of 
Friesland,  Germanicus  Cnesar  conquered  Arminius 
by  the  banks  of  the  Visargus.  The  Romans  too 
took  for  their  sport  the  slaying  of  the  swimmers  in 
the  river.  Arminius,  like  Nassau,  fled  disguised. 
The  field  was  strewn  with  corpses.  And  on  the 
return,  the  Boman  erected  his  monument  of  spoils 
for  posterity  to  gaze  at.  But  hei'e  the  parallel 
stops.  When  the  Eoman  set  up  his  trophy,  his 
modesty  led  him  to  omit  his  name;  the  arrogant 
Spaniard  chiselled  in  his  title.  Fame,  therefore, 
in  that  inscription  inserted  the  word  Germanicus ; 
but  envy  in  this  soon  blotted  out  the  name  of 
Alva.  X 

*  Meteren,  folio  61.     'Bor.,  uh'i  sup.     Strada,  uhi  sup. 

t  Strada.  ut  antea.     Metereu,  folio  Gl,  et  alii. 

X  "  It  was  wonderful  to  see  ■with  what  a  general  hatred  and 
envy  this  statue  was  looked  upon.  The  Low-Countrymen  in- 
wardly fretting,  as  if  they  were  daily  conquered  in  that  monii- 
meut,  and  the  nation  daily  triumphed  over.     The  very  Spaniards 

niitdi  n.-:.  25 


578  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

The  duke's  festivities  were  soon  interrupted  by 
au  untoward  event.  Notwithstanding  the  filchings 
from  the  confiscated  hoards  of  the  heretic  traitors, 
Alva  had  found  plunder  an  uncertain  paymaster. 
Improvidence  and  peculation  ate  up  all  he  could 
steal.  As  a  consequence,  constant  draughts  were 
made  upon  the  Spanish  treasury.  Eecently  the 
mercenaries,  whose  pay  was  many  months  in  arrear, 
had  been  grumbling — the  mercenaries,  who  Avero 
the  main  prop,  the  palladium,  of  the  usurpation. 
Of  course  the  duke  had  recourse  to  Philip,  who,  in 
his  turn,  almost  as  necessitous  as  the  governor- 
general,  had  been  obliged  to  borrow  half  a  million 
of  dollars  from  two  banking-houses  at  Genoa,  in 
order  to  meet  the  demand.'^  The  bankers  had  con- 
tracted to  deliver  the  loan  in  silver  at  Antwerp.    It 

themselves  were  augry  at  the  duke,  that  chose  rather  to  slug  his 
own  praises  than  to  hear  them  spoken  by  others.  Nor  was  there 
any  siibject  more  freqtient  at  the  court  of  Spain,  the  prince  of 
Eboli  deriding  his  old  rival  for  styling  himself  most  faithful  min- 
ister, because  he  inverted  the  honor  due  to  his  prince  and  trans- 
ferred it  to  himself.  Nay,  the  structure  was  not  very  pleasing  to 
Philip,  by  whose  command,  four  years  after,  it  was  removed. 
Perhaps  the  king  did  it  to  take  away  the  nation's  distaste  ;  or, 
rather,  his  own,  offended  that  another  should  have  a  monument 
raised  out  of  a  victory  which  his  armies  had  won  and  his  purse 
paid  for.  It  was  conjectured  that  Alva  had  knowledge  of  the 
king's  displeasure,  because  the  other  statue — for  he  had  two  cast 
of  the  same  model  by  the  same  workman — was  not  sent  into  Spain, 
as  he  at  first  intended."     Strada,  tom.  2,  pp.  64,  Go. 

De  Thou,  who  saw  the  statue  after  it  was  cast  do-mi,  was  '■  as 
much  struck  by  the  beauty  of  the  workmanship,  as  by  the  insane 
pride  of  him  who  ordered  it  made."     Hist.  Univ.,  pp.  '171-473. 

-  MS.,  Simaucas,  cited  by  Froude  in  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  9, 
p.  3r,6. 


ALVA'S  MILLENNIUM.  579 

was  accordingly  packed  into  several  chests,  divided 
among  a  number  of  ships,  and  despatched  from 
Italy  by  sea.'- 

In  the  British  Channel  the  precious  fleet  "  fell 
among  thieves"  in  the  shape  of  Huguenot  priva- 
teers, commissioned  by  Cond6  to  prey  upon  Eo- 
mauist  merchantmen  of  whatever  nationality.'!'  was 
scattered  and  driven  into  English  ports.  The  cap- 
tains of  the  treasure-shijis  complained  to  the  Span- 
ish ambassador  at  the  court  of  St.  James  of  the 
breach  of  neutrality  committed  by  the  corsairs  in 
chasing  the  vessels  of  a  friendly  power  in  English 
waters ;  and  the  ambassador  laid  the  accusation 
before  Elizabeth. J  The  maiden  queen  listened  gra- 
ciously, and  offered  to  send  a  British  man-of-war 
to  convoy  the  fleet  to  Antwerp — an  offer  which  was 
accepted  with  many  thanks.  § 

But  at  that  time,  though  Elizabeth  was  in  place, 
Cecil — Lord  Burghley — was  in  power.  Cecil  was 
a  statesman  in  whose  brain  there  were  only  deep 
soundings — no  shoals.  A  man  of  w^eighty  intellect, 
of  profound  tact,  of  unrivaled  acumen,  as  Dryden 
said  of  Shakespeare,  "  he  needed  not  the  spectacles^ 
of  books  to  read  nature,  but  looked  inward  and 
found  her  there."  Cecil  was  a  sturdy  Protestant 
withal,  nor  were  his  sympathies  bounded  by  his 
native  island.  He  had  long  used  his  influence  with 
his  royal  mistress  in  favor  of  Coligny  and  of  Or- 
ange, both  as  a  statesman  and  as  a  Christian;  for 

*  MS.,  Simancas,  cited  by  Froiido  in  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  9, 
p.  SCO.  t  Ibid.  ±  Ibid.  §  Ibid. 


580  THE  DUTCH   REFORMATION. 

lie  was  as  mucli  opposed  as  a  politician  to  tlie  liouse 
of  Austria,  as  lie  was  as  a  Protestant  to  tlie  exegesis 
of  the  Koman  tlieologians. 

In  these  Spanish  vessels  now  at  anchor  in  Brit- 
ish harbors  he  saw  an  opportunity  at  a  critical 
moment  to  aid  Orange,  to  cripple  Alva,  to  provoke 
Philip,  and  to  end  the  coquette  dance  of  Elizabeth 
on  the  brink  of  a  precipice.  Accordingly,  he  per- 
suaded the  queen  to  seize  and  appropriate  Alva's 
expected  treasure-chests  to  her  own  use.'^ 

Philip's  ambassador  was  astonished.  Waiting 
upon  Elizabeth,  he  demanded  an  explanation.  She 
gave  him  two.  "I  understand  that  'tis  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Genoese,  and  as  I  have  occasion  for  a 
loan,  I  have  borrowed  it."  "  I  have  taken  the 
money  in  my  possession,  in  order  to  secure  its  safe 
delivery  at  Antwerp."  These  were  her  paradoxical 
answers.t  The  envoy  was  at  liberty  to  accept 
either  or  both;  like  Luther's  priest,  who,  when  the 
Komanists  told  him  to  pray  in  one  way  and  the 
Protestants  in  another,  ended  by  repeating  the 
alphabet,  and  begging  each  to  frame  a  prayer  to 
^tlieir  taste. 

The  ambassador  hastened  to  apprize  Alva  of  the 
seizure  ;:|:  and  then,  remembering  that  a  main  source 
of  the  wealth  of  the  London  merchants  was  the 
Netherland  trade,  he  went  on  'Change  and  told  the 
news,  in  the  hope  that  the  impending  breach  might 
stir  a  riot  that  should  force  the  queen  to  make  res- 

«  Fronde,  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  0,  i5.  371,  et  seq.      Meteren. 
folion  57,  58.  f  Ibid.    Bor.,  torn.  5,  p.  272,  et  srq.        }  Ibid. 


ALVA'S  MILLENNIUM.  581 

titutiou.*  He  informed  Philip  that  the  iudiguity 
originated  in  the  determination  of  Cecil  to  support 
the  prince  of  Orange,  adding:  "Half  the  money 
goes  to  him  to  enable  him  to  equip  a  new  army; 
the  other  half  is  to  be  spent  in  doubling  the  English 
fleet."t 

When  Alva,  who  was  impatiently  awaiting  the 
money,  learned  of  its  seizure,  he  v/as  furious.  Once, 
twice  did  he  despatch  envoys  across  the  channel  to 
wheedle  and  to  bully  the  court  of  St.  James.  -The 
queen  snubbed  the  committees  and  rebuked  the 
duke  for  venturing  to  treat  with  a  crowned  head. 
"  Tell  the  governor-general  that  I  will  discuss  this 
question  with  his  master;"  such  was  the  message 
which  the  remonstrants  bore  back  to  Brussels.:]: 

This  rebuke,  which  his  arrogance  merited,  tuned 
Alva's  indignation  to  the  highest  pitch.  By  a 
formal  proclamation  he  instituted  immediate  repri- 
sals. .  Every  English  resident  in  the  Netherlands 
was  arrested,  and  every  British  ship  was  seized  and 
gutted  of  its  cargo,  which  was  sold.§  Elizabeth 
retaliated  by  swooping  upon  the  persons  and  estates 
of  all  Low-Countrj^men  living  or  trading  in  the 
island.il  Whereupon  the  duke,  on  the  31st  of 
March,  1569,  proclaimed  a  strict  non-intercourse 
with  Great  Britain.1I 

Antwerp  grumbled  and  London  was  sulky:  it 

*  Froude,  uhl  sup.,  p.  373. 

f  Guerau  de  Espes  to  Philip,  Dec.  27  aud  Jau.  1.     MS.,  Siuiau- 
cas,  J  Meteren,  ut  antea.     Fronde.        if 

§  Ibid.    Froude,  vol.  9,  p.  373.  ||  Fronde,  Hume,  Bor. 

^  Bor.,  vol.  5,  p.  277,  d  seq.     Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  271). 


582  THE  BUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

was  a  quarrel  in  the  upper  air,  about  wliicli  they 
knew  nothing  and  cared  less.  But  Alva  terrified 
the  burghers  into  silence;  and  as  the  immediate 
advantage  was  largely  on  the  side  of  the  queen, 
Lombard -street  became  acquiescent.  The  iron 
grasp  of  this  embargo  was  not  unclenched  until  the 
spring  of  1573,*  four  years  after  the  seizure  of  the 
money-chests ;  within  which  time  this  quarrel  made 
England  the  ally  of  Orange,  as  was  Cecil's  inten- 
tion when  he  played  the  trick. 

Interested  as  the  governor-general  was  in  the 
imbroglio  with  Elizabeth,  he  did  not  permit  it  to 
divert  his  attention  from  what  he  knew  to  be  the 
main  end  of  his  presence  in  the  states — the  extir- 
pation of  heresy.  In  March,  1569,  his  past  piety 
was  honored  by  the  arrival  of  an  ambassador  from 
Rome,  who  presented  him  with  a  helmet  and  a 
sword,  both  richly  set,  and  inchased  with  gold  and 
precious  stones,  solemnly  consecrated  by  his  Jioli- 
ness,  and  sent  to  the  duke  of  Alva  as  the  champion 
of  holy  church. t 

Elated  by  this  extraordinary  present,  and  anx- 
ious to  prove  his  right  to  the  title  conferred  upon 
him  by  Pius  V.,  the  duke  now  redoubled,  if  that 
were  possible,  the  fury  of  a  persecution  which  had 
never  lagged.  The  stadtholders  of  the  provinces 
were  instructed  to  see  that,  "  when  either  the  host 
or  the  holy  oil  for  extreme  unction,  was  carried  to 

*  Bor.,  vol.  5,  p.  277,  et  seq.     Motlej',  vol.  2,  p.  279.     Camdeu, 
Annals  of  the  Eeign  of  Elizabeth,  book  1,  p.  126,  ed.  1675. 
f  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  6i.     Meudoza,  Comcutarios,  ]d.  100. 


ALVA'S  MILLENNIUM.  583 

the  sick,  strict  notice  sliould  be  taken  of  the  beha- 
-vior  of  all,  in  order  that  those  in  whom  any  signs 
of  irreverence  were  discovered  might  be  punished ; 
that  all  dead  bodies  denied  Christian  burial  by  the 
clergy  should  be  dumped  in  the  gallows-field ;  and 
that  all  midmves  should  be  Romanists,  obliged 
tinder  oath  to  give  an  account  within  twenty-four 
hours  after  birth  of  every  child,  to  the  end  that  the 
curate  might  proceed  to  baptism.""  This  order 
was  followed  up  by  a  placard,  signed  by  Philip  on 
the  19th  of  May,  1569,  repealing  all  declarations 
and  agreements  inconsistent  with  the  inquisitorial 
edict  of  Charles  V.  in  1550,  across  which  esto  per- 
petua  was  uow  written.!  The  decrees  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Trent  were  rigidly  enforced,:]:  especially  those 
of  them  in  which  the  Tridentine  fathers  enjoined 
the  extirpation  of  heresy;  and  the  evil  army  of 
priests  thundered  the  accursed  message  from  every 
altar,  and  breathed  it  with  yet  more  fatal  potency 
in  the  confessional.§ 

The  police  of  persecution,  in  greater  numbers 
than  ever,  were  set  at  every  street-corner  to  observe 
and  rejiort  the  behavior  of  the  masses.il  These 
spies  were  nicknamed  "  sevenpenny  men,"  because 
the  wages  of  their  odious  work  was  paid  them  in 
coin  of  that  value.lT 

From  such  seed  a  crop  of  murder  was  sure  to 

e  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  280.  t  Ibid. 

J  Davies,  Hist,  of  Holland,  vol.  1,  p.  5G6.    Brandt,  vol.  l,p.  288. 
§  Froude,  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  10,  p.  392. 
II  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  280.  H  Ibid. 


584  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

spring.  The  local  records  of  that  era  reek  with 
perennial  barbarities,  performed  not  perfunctorily, 
but  con  amorc.  Now,  a  batch  of  Protestant  trades- 
men were  hung  at  Bois  le  Due ;  and  now,  a  parcel 
of  heretical  husbandmen  were  beheaded  at  the 
Hague.*  Amsterdam,  Leyden,  Antwerp,  Brussels, 
Valenciennes — in  each,  and  at  the  same  time,  there 
were  dreadful  tragedies.f 

As  usual,  those  stigmatized  as  Anabaptists  were 
hunted  v,dth  pecuhar  vindictiveness.  On  one  occa- 
sion, an  order  was  issued  for  the  apprehension  of  a 
burgher  of  Asperen  named  Eichard  Willemsou,  of 
that  persuasion.  Knowing  that  an  arrest  Avas  the 
unfailing  herald  of  death,  he  fled  upon  the  ice,  which 
was  yet  thin,  for  it  was  early  winter.  After  much 
difficulty,  he  got  over  it;  but  an  officer  who  was 
pursuing  him  was  not  so  successful,  for  he  slipped 
in.  "Helj)!  help!"  shouted  the  drowning,  freezing 
wretch.  Willemson  paused;  there  was  no  one  with- 
in sight  or  hearing  save  himself.  Touched  by  the 
peril  of  his  pursuer,  he  recrossed  and  jeoparded  his 
own  life  to  rescue  that  of  a  sinking  brother.  The 
officer,  on  being  fished  out  of  the  water,  was  about 
to  let  his  preserver  go,  wdien  the  burgomaster,  who 
had  come  suddenly  upon  the  scene,  cried  sharply: 
"  Sir  officer,  fulfil  your  oath."  BecoUecting  that 
his  own  neck  might  pay  for  it  if  he  let  the  prisoner 
escape,  the  officer  forced  Willemson  back  to  Asj)e- 
reu,  where  he  was  soon  tried  and  sentenced  to  be 
burned  alive.  He  was  led  out  to  die  on  that  side  of 
*  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  278.  t  l^i^- 


ALVA'S  MILLENNIUM.  585 

the  town  of  Aspereu  which  is  next  to  the  village  of 
Leerdam.  When  the  fire  was  kindled,  a  strong  east 
Avind  blew  the  flames  away  from  the  upper  part  of 
his  figure,  and  caused  him  to  suffer  the  excrucia- 
ting agonies  of  a  lingering  death,  insomuch  that,  as 
far  off  as  Leerdam,  towards  which  the  wind  sat,  he 
was  heard  to  cry  over  seventy  times,  "  O  my  Lord 
and  my  God!     O  my  Lord  and  my  God !"* 

Now,  as  always  before  when  persecution  became 
unusually  harsh,  multitudes  left  the  states,  and 
transported  their  effects  and  handicrafts  to  other 
shores — such  multitudes  that  more  than  a  hundred 
thousand  houses  were  left  tenantless.t  The  sight 
of  so  many  empty  dwellings  frightened  the  mer- 
chants and  traders  of  the  Netherlands.  Many  of 
these  were  Eomanists  who  had  no  sympathy  with 
the  reformed,  and  stood  ready  to  treat  the  profes- 
sion of  Protestantism  as  an  indictable  offence.  But 
as  the  publican  was  nearer  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
than  the  Pharisee,  so  the  manufacturers  of  Ghent 
and  Antwerp,  of  Brussels  and  Bruges,  were  drawn 
from  fanaticism  by  their  worldliness;  they  were 
willing  to  maintain  holy  church  in  all  its  dignity 
and  honor,  but  relucted  at  Alva's  method  of  pro- 
cedure, and  had  no  desire  to  ruin  the  country  and 
themselves  by  the  death  or  exile  of  the  most  skilful 
artificers  in  Christendom. :1" 

«  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  281.  f  Ibid.,  p.  277. 

t  Froude,  Hist  of  Euglaud,  vol.  9,  p.  314. 
In  1603,  when  Sully  visited  England,  two-thirds  of  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  town  of  Canterbury  were  Netherland  refugees.    "  Thia 
25* 


586  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

The  governor-general  was  supremely  indifferent 
to  the  opinions  of  the  conservative  Eomanists  of 
the  provinces.  It  was  Philip  II.  whose  commission 
he  bore ;  it  was  the  pope  who  crowned  him  with 
honors.  Self-interest,  equally  with  fanaticism,  im- 
pelled him  to  steer  right  on  in  a  course  known  to 
square  with  the  twin  compasses  of  Madrid  and  the 
Vatican. 

Accordingly,  his  measures  proceeded  from  bad 
to  worse.  While  the  emigration  was  at  the  highest, 
those  wives  who  went  to  visit  their  exiled  husbands 
were  declared  to  be  themselves  outlawed  by  that 
act.*  All  young  men  under  twenty  were  forbidden 
peremptorily  to  study  in  any  university  outside  of 
the  dominions  of  Philip  II.,  with  the  single  excep- 
tion of  the  schools  at  Eome.t 

The  press,  too,  always  an  ally  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, was,  by  a  placard  fulminated  in  May,  1569, 
put  under  strict  censorship.'!  Nothing  might  be 
published  without  the  imprimatur  of  Alva.  More- 
over, in  order  that  it  might  be  seen  how  books  de- 
meaned themselves,  an  ecclesiastical  committee  sat 
in  Antwerp,  with  authority  to  judge  all  writings  of 
all  climes,  and  to  place  those  which  were  objection- 
able to  Home  in  an  index  expurgatorius,  in  obedience 
to  the  mandate  of  the  doctors  of  Trent.§ 

In  civil  affairs,  usurpation  kept  pace  with  this 

circi;mstance,"  remarks  he,  "accounts  for  the  superior  civiHzatiou 
and  politeness  of  the  denizens  of  that  phxce."  Memoirs,  torn.  4, 
lib.  U,  p.  217. 

«  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  277.     Hoofd.  f  Ibid. 

X  Brandt,  ubi  sap.,  pp.  277,  287,  295.  §  Ibid.,  p.  293. 


ALVA'S  MILLENNIUM.  587 

etliical  oppression.  Commissioners,  lioimded  on  by 
the  blood-judges,  prowled  tlirougli  the  states  to  fer- 
ret out  all  who  had  maintained  a  correspondence 
with  the  prince  of  Orange.  The  very  arm  of  the 
gibbet  began  to  ache  with  incessant  service.  Rare- 
ly did  the  atrocious  farces  called  trials  awaken  a 
protest  from  the  cowed  provincial  bar.  Once,  how- 
ever, when  the  magistrates  of  Leyden  were  called 
upon  to  execute  an  illegal  sentence  against  several 
of  their  fellow-townsmen,  they  refused  unanimously 
to  play  the  executioner ;  nor  would  they  recognize 
the  competence  of  the  tribunal  of  blood  to  pro- 
nounce judgment  within  the  limits  of  their  munici- 
pality, alleging  it  to  be  against  their  charters,  which 
permitted  only  the  schout — an  officer  appointed  by 
the  sovereign  or  his  deputy — and  the  supreme  coun- 
cil of  Leyden  to  bring  the  freemen  of  the  town  to 
trial.*  "  Besides,"  said  they,  "  we  have  an  old  cus- 
tom which  forbids  that  any  man  suffer  death  who 
does  not  own  his  crime  without  torture  or  bands. 
In  any  case,  the  culprit  can  no  more  than  lose 
life  and  be  made  to  forfeit  ten  Flemish  pounds. 
Whence,  then,  these  arrests  and  executions?  and 
whence  these  confiscations  ?"t  A  constitutionahst 
would  have  been  puzzled  to  reply ;  but  as  for  Alva, 
had  not  his  echo,  Vargas,  said,  "  Non  curamus  ves- 
tros  prlvileglos?''' 

This  protest  of  the  Leyden  magistrates  was  not 
answered  by  imprisonment  and  the  block,  only 
because  the  governor-general  was  too  much  occu- 

•»  Braudt,  p.  277.  t  I^i*!- 


588  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

pied  at  tlie  time  to  heed  it.  The  seizure  of  his 
money-chests  by  the  queen  of  England  had  crip- 
pled Alva,  as  Cecil  meant  it  should.  From  day  to 
day  his  pecuniary  embarrassments  increased.  The 
ciYil  list  went  unpaid.  The  men-at-arms  became 
vociferous  in  their  demands  for  the  arrears.  To 
those  pledges  had  been  doled  out,  and  to  these  the 
rhetoric  of  victory  had  been  given ;  but  creditors 
only  appreciate  the  eloquence  of  cash.  Confisca- 
tions came  in  in  driblets.  The  duke  disliked  to  beg 
again  of  Philip,  since  his  most  "catholic"  majesty 
had  just  ended  a  costl}^  campaign  against  those 
home-bred  infidels  the  Moriscoes,  and  was  even 
now  arming  at  great  expense  to  battle  with  the 
Sultan.* 

Besides,  had  he  not  repeatedly  assured  the  king 
that  his  government  in  the  Low  Countries  should 
not  only  itself  feed  on  gold,  but  also  supply  the 
royal  table  at  Madrid  with  ducat- viands  ?  Were 
not  his  enemies  at  court — Kuy  Gomez,  the  fair 
Anna  de  Mendoza,  and  the  rest,  filling  Philip's  ears 
with  sarcastic  jests  at  his  failure  to  keep  that 
promise  ?t 

Under  these  circumstances,  Alva  concluded  that 
his  exchequer,  emptied  by  war  and  extravagance, 
must  be  replenished  in  the  provinces.  For  thi» 
purpose  he  decided  to  substitute  for  the  immemo- 
rial and  chartered  rights  of  the  states  to  tax  them- 
selves, an  irresponsible,  wholly  arbitrary  system  of 

*  Prescott,  Philip  II.,  vol.  3,  p.  298. 
j-  Vaudervyuckt,  torn.  2.  p.  118. 


ALVA'S  MILLENNIUM.  580 

taxation  by  the  crown.*  Could  this  be  done — and 
the  haughty  soldier  did  not  doubt  his  ability  to 
command  success — the  gain  would  be  twofold ;  a 
perpetual  fund  would  be  at  hand  for  future  occa- 
sions, and  the  keystone  would  be  knocked  out  of 
the  arch  of  Netherland  rights. 

Then,  as  in  the  past,  all  legal  applications  for 
money  were  to  be  made  to  the  states-general,  com- 
posed of  three  orders — the  nobles,  the  clergy,  and 
the  commons ;  and  it  was  at  their  option  to  say  Yes, 
or  No,  to  the  demand — the  veto  of  any  one  of  the 
branches  being  equivalent  to  the  dissent  of  all.f 

To  the  absolutist  ideas  of  Alva,  such  a  check  on 
despotism  was  rebellion  in  a  chronic  form.  Irrita- 
tion, as  well  as  the  pecuniary  pressure,  urged  him 
to  assail  it.  Accordingly,  on  the  20th  of  March, 
1569,  he  convened  the  states-general  in  Brussels,:|: 
their  first  meeting  since  the  stormy  farewell  of 
Philip  II.  in  the  eventful  summer  of  '59. 

The  duke  was  so  confident  that  he  did  not  deign 
to  inaugurate  the  financial  revolution  by  a  measur- 
ably moderate  demand  in  perjietuity,  making  the 
grant  of  this  a  precedent  for  greater  exactions ;  with 
arrogant  rapacity  he  claimed  of  the  national  repre- 
sentatives the  cession  to  him  of  the  right  to  impose 
three  taxes,  two  of  which  were  unprecedented.  The 
first  was  an  extraordinary  tax  of  one  per  cent,  upon 
all  properties,  real  and  personal,  to  be  collected 

*  Bor.,  torn.  5,  p.  279.     Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  Go. 

f  Vide  Motley,  vol.  1,  lutrodiiction.    Bentivoglio,  lib.  5,  p.  82, 

X  Bor.,  torn.  5,  p.  279.     Bentivoglio,  Vaudeivynckt,  et  alii. 


590  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

immediately.  The  second  was  a  perpetual  tax  of 
twenty  per  cent,  upon  every  transfer  of  real  estate, 
Tlie  third  was  a  perj)etual  tax  of  ten  per  cent,  upon 
personal  property  and  all  kinds  of  merchandise, 
payable  by  the  vendor  on  every  sale.* 

This  enormous  demand,  as  suicidal  as  it  was 
tyrannical,  made  the  provincial  deputies  gasp  for 
breath.  No  scientist  was  needed  to  demonstrate 
the  bankruptcy ;  no  economist  was  required  to 
figure  out  the  fact ;  the  veriest  financial  tyro  could 
read  ruin  in  every  s^dlable  of  the  decrees. 

The  representatives  ventured  to  remonstrate, 
maintaining  imanswerably  that  the  proposed  taxes 
would  strangle  trade  and  exile  commerce.  "As  for 
the  hundredth  penny,"  said  they,  "  'tis  exhorbitant, 
but  it  may  be  borne  for  once.  But  for  the  twen- 
tieth penny,  that  is  insupportable.  Such  an  assess- 
ment on  the  full  value  of  real  estate,  made  at  every 
transfer,  would  soon  eat  up  such  property.  An 
estate  may  be  sold  twenty  times  within  a  twelve- 
month, in  which  case  twenty  per  cent,  means  prac- 
tical confiscation.t 

"  And  for  the  tenth  pennj'-,  that  is  still  worse, 
since  besides  being  a  higher  rate,  it  is  imposed 
upon  articles  of  merchandise,  goods  in  rapid  circu- 
lation. Many  of  these  change  hands  a  dozen  times 
a  week,  so  that  ten  per  cent,  paid  by  the  vendor  at 
each  sale  would  be  more  than  a  hundred  per  cent, 
every  seven  days.     Other  commodities  are  trans- 

«  Bor.,  torn.  5,  pp.  280,  281,  et  seq. 
t  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  286. 


ALVA'S  MILLENNIUM.  •  591 

ferred  from  one  person  to  another,  and  by  him  to 
a  third,  and  so  to  a  fourth,  a  fifth,  a  sixth,  before 
reaching  the  consumer.  As  each  vendor  paid  the 
tax,  he  would  add  ten  per  cent,  to  its  original  price 
in  order  to  reimburse  himself,  until  a  fictitious  value 
was  reached  which  would  be  a  prohibition  iipon 
purchase. 

"  Then,  too,  most  manufactured  goods  are  made 
up  of  many  parts.  Before  cloth  is  woven  and  put 
off  the  hands  of  the  manufacturer,  he  must  pay  a 
tenth  part  to  the  seller  of  wool,  of  thread,  to  the 
weaver,  to  the  dyer,  until  the  payment  of  these 
manifold  tenths  would  run  up  the  price  of  the  com- 
pleted cloth  to  a  fabulous  amount — placing  it  so  far 
above  the  means  of  ordinary  consumers  as  to  drive 
them  into  foreign  and  more  favored  markets.  Quick 
transfers  and  unfettered  movements  being  the  nerves 
and  muscles  of  commerce,  it  would  be  impossible 
for  it  long  to  survive  the  paralysis  of  such  im- 
posts."* 

So  spoke  the  deputies — strongly  and  with  con- 
vincing logic.  Yiglius  too  lent  his  name  and  pen 
to  the  opposition.  The  learned  doctor  was  willing 
to  spend  his  eyesight  in  hunting  up  musty  prece- 
dents for  murder,  but  he  would  not  quietly  submit 
to  a  tax  which  robbed  his  cofi"ers  of  half  their 
wealth.  "Remember,  your  highness,"  said  he, 
"  that  the  Netherlands  are  situated  in  the  heart  of 
Europe,  with  many  enterprising  nations  bordering 

=-=  Bor.,  torn.  5,  pp.  281,  282.  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  65.  Motley, 
ut  antca. 


592    •      THE  DUTCH  BEFORMATION. 

on  them;  so  that- if  trade  be  discouraged  or  op- 
pressed, the  merchants  and  manufacturers  resident 
here  can  easily,  and  certainly  will,  transport  them- 
selves into  adjacent  lands — a  consequence  to  be 
dreaded  from  much  less  burdensome  taxation  than 
this  now  proposed,  which  is  such  as  was  never 
before  heard  of  in  any  commercial  state."* 

Alva  was  both  astonished  and  provoked  by  this 
opposition  in  these  halcyon  days.  Nor  could  ho 
"  upon  the  heat  and  flame  of  his  distemper  sprinkle 
cool  patience,"  He  was  ignorant  of  the  A  B  C  of 
jDolitical  economy,  and  he  was  obstinate  in  propor- 
tion as  he  was  opposed — a  man  who  would  slap 
Reason  in  the  face  if  she  said  nay  to  the  idlest  of 
his  whims.  "  Know  then,"  said  he  to  the  remon- 
strants, "  that  in  my  own  town  of  Alva  in  Spain,  a 
tax  of  ten  per  cent.,  analogous  to  this,  is  paid  me 
without  complaint,  and  yields  an  annual  rental  of 
some  fifty  thousand  ducats.  Let  me  hear  no  more, 
therefore,  of  your  inability  to  pay  it.  Have  it  I 
must."t 

"  Yes,  retorted  Viglius,  "  but  there  is  the  widest 
difference  between  Spain  and  the  Low  Countries. 
We  are  a  small  nation,  dependent  ui:)on  provisions 
grown  outside  our  limits — traders.  Spain  is  com- 
plete within  itself,  shut  out  from  want  by  a  fertile 
soil.  The  people  are  devoted  to  agriculture,  so 
that  what  goods  are  sold  pass  directly  from  the 
producer  to  the   consumer  with  no   intervention. 

a  Yiglii  Comm.  dec.  Dcu.,  s.  7,  p.  10. 
t  Meteren.  Beutivoglio,  et  alii. 


ALVA'S  MILLENNIUM,  593 

Ten  per  cent,  on  sales  must  be  comparatiYely  easy 
to  pay  in  such  a  state."* 

Yiglius'  advocacy  of  tlieir  cause  emboldened  the 
people  at  large  to  remonstrate.  An  avalanche  of 
petitions  rolled  down  upon  the  duke.  One  pam- 
phlet informed  him  that  if  he  acted  Themistocles, 
and  to  raise  money  brought  two  goddesses,  Per- 
suasion and  Violence,  the  states  would  play  the 
Andrians,  and  to  prevent  payment,  interpose  as 
many  and  as  potent  goddesses,  Poverty  and  Im- 
possibility.t 

"  We  will  yield  the  hundredth  penny,"  said  the 
states-general.:j:  "  I  must  have  the  tenth  and  twen- 
tieth also,"  persisted  the  duke.  After  a  protracted 
struggle,  the  deputies  were  bullied  into  acquies- 
cence, hinging  their  assent  upon  a  condition  prece- 
dent— that  the  veto  of  any  one  of  the  provinces 
should  be  held  to  invalidate  the  Amen  of  all  the 
rest.§ 

Alva  sat  down  and  wrote  Philip  a  jubilant  letter, 
in  which  he  announced  the  assent  of  the  states  to 
the  taxes,  and  congratulated  his  majesty  upon  the 
gaining  of  the  purse  and  the  possession  of  an  im- 
mense income  in  perpetuity.il 

Alas,  before  this  assurance  was  in  the  mail-bag, 

word  came  that  Utrecht  had  refused  to  ratify  the 

decrees,  offering  instead  a  commutation,  first   of 

c-  Viglii  Comm.  dec.  Deii.,  ui  antea. 

t  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  67. 

X  Bor.,  torn.  5,  p.  286.     Metereu,  Hoofd,  Campaua. 

§  Bor.,  ubi  sup.     Brandt.,  vol.  1,  p.  278. 

II  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  882. 


594  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

seventy  tliousand  florins,  then  of  two  liundred  thou- 
sand florins.*  This  tender  was  rejected  with  dis- 
dain, and  a  renewed  demand  was  made  for  the 
assent  of  the  province  to  the  imposts.f  Utrecht 
again  refused  ;  the  clergy,  one  of  the  three  branches 
of  the  stadtholderate,  declaring  that  they  could  not 
agree  to  the  taxes  without  incurring  the  censure  of 
excommunication,  denounced  by  the  pope's  bull 
"in  ccena  Bomini"  against  those  alike  who  imposed 
assessments  upon  the  revenues  of  the  church  and 
those  who  paid  them.:|; 

Alva  resolved  to  try  his  "  short  method  "  with 
these  cavillers.  A  regiment  of  Italian  mercenaries 
was  billeted  upon  the  state.  The  intrepid  burghers 
quietly  put  up  with  the  soldiers,  and  still  refused  to 
indorse  the  decrees.§  Other  coercive  measures 
were  tried,  with  no  better  result.  And  finally  the 
incensed  duke  declared  the  whole  province  guilty 
of  treason  and  heresy,  abrogated  its  charters,  con- 
fiscated the  public  funds,  took  formal  possession  of 
the  archives,  and  so  far  as  words  could  do  so,  blot- 
ted Utrecht  from  the  provincial  map.H 

In  the  mean  tin*Ie  the  whole  question  was  re- 
opened, the  other  states  declaring  that  the  refusal 
of  Utreclit  to  ratify  the  taxes  liad  annulled  their 
assent.TT  Alva  coddled  and  threatened  by  turns. 
The  burghers  wheedled  and  juggled;  until  the  duke, 

^BoY.,  uU  sup., -p.  287.  t  Ibid. 

I  Braudt,  vol.  1,  p.  279.     Hoofd,  torn.  5.  p.  195. 
§  Hoofd,  uU  sup.    Bor.,  torn.  5,  p.  288.  ||  Ibid.,  Ibid. 

^  Metercu,  Campaua. 


ALVA'S  MILLENNIUM.  595 

now  quite  destitute  of  money,  agreed  to  hold  the 
taxes  in  abeyance  for  two  years,  accepting  in  lieu 
of  them  a  payment  of  two  millions  of  guilders  at 
the  end  of  each  twelvemonth.^^  By  this  compro- 
mise the  final  struggle  was  postponed  until  August, 
1571.  "  At  the  expiration  of  this  time  events  may 
prevent  any  farther  attempt  to  collect  the  taxes," 
said  the  burghers.  "Time  will  reconcile  these 
shopkeepers  to  submissiou,"  thought  the  viceroy. 
Neither  j^et  understood  the  other. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  Philip's  affianced 
bride,  Anne  of  Austria,  passed  through  the  Neth- 
erlands en  route  to  Spain.f  The  incestuous  match 
had  been  legalized  by  Pius  V.,  to  the  great  offence 
of  Protestant  Europe.  The  princess  was,  however, 
well  receivea  at  Brussels,  and  Alva  became  an  ear- 
nest suitor  to  the  king  for  leave  to  escort  her  to 
Madrid.:]:  For  various  reasons  the  duke  desired  to 
retire  from  the  provinces.  Of  late  his  Spanish  cor- 
respondence had  teemed  with  hints  that  his  favor  at 
court  was  waning — Ruy  Gomez  required  watching. 
Then  too  he  felt  that  his  work  was  about  done  in 
the  Low  Countries ;  armed  treason  had  been  crush- 
ed; the  scaffold  had  been  fed  with  victims  ;  heresy 
had  been  sedulously  racked  and  burned ;  confisca- 
tions had  emptied  the  veins  of  plethoric  and  haughty 
traders ;  all  the  rest  he  esteemed  certain  to  be  heav- 
iness and  a  weariness  to  tlie  flesh. §    There  were  no 

*  Hooftl,  uhi  siq).     Bor.,  uhi  sup.,  et  seq. 

t  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  209.  J:  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  08. 

§  CoiTcsp.  dc  Philippo  II.,  torn.  2,  pp.  890,  908,  1)51,  970,  etc. 


598  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION, 

more  laurels  to  be  gathered.  But  he  pleaded  iu 
vain ;  Philip  was  uot  yet  ready  to  sign  a  recall.'-^ 

For  some  time  past  the  great  wigs  at  Brussels 
and  Madrid  had  been  pondering  jhe  policy  of  an 
amnesty.  Damon  Yiglius  had  urged  Pythias  Hop- 
per to  suggest  it  to  "  the  master."t  And  Granvelle, 
convinced  that  the  brutality  of  the  governor-gen- 
eral was  playing  into  the  hands  of  Orange,  had 
written  from  Borne  to  request  his  maj.esty  to  make 
at  least  a  show  of  pardon.^  Now  for  many  months 
the  entire  nation  had  been  under  the  double  ban  of 
Philip  and  the  Inquisition — all  criminals,  without  a 
claim  to  fortune,  family,  or  life.§  A  discriminating 
act  of  indemnity  might  conciliate  the  Netherland- 
ers ;  it  would  surely  tend  to  propitiate  that  public 
opinion  Avhich  had  arraigned  Spain  at  the  bar  of 
Europe. 

Influenced  by  these  considerations,  Philip  drew 
up  four  different  forms  of  pardon,  tovrards  the  close 
of  1569,  and  despatched  them  to  Alva,  bidding  him 
to  select  one,  and  be  careful  to  destroy  the  rest.|| 

Certainly  the  duke  made  no  hasty  choice,  for  it 
was  not  until  the  midsummer  of  1570  that  the  am- 
nesty was  proclaimedlT — a  protraction  which  would 
have  lessened  the  favor  of  a  much  greater  benefac- 
tion than  this  proved  to  be.** 

*  Strada,  ^lhi  siq).        j  Epist.  ad.  Joach.  Hopperus,  pp.  82-110. 

X  Coircsp.  de  Philii^iie  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  815. 

§  FtcZe  Chapter" XXVII.,  p.  474. 

II  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  914. 

H  Hoofd,  torn.  5,  p.  201.     Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  67. 

**  Strada,  iihi  sup. 


ALVA'S  MILLENNIUM.  597 

The  promulgation  ceremonies  were  lield  in  Ant- 
werjo  on  the  14th  of  July.  All  the  world  of  the 
Netherlands  had  made  a  pilgrimage  to  the  new 
Mecca  to  be  at  the  festival.  There  was  a  pompous 
parade  of  gorgeously  enrobed  ecclesiastics,  and  this 
was  succeeded  by  no  end  of  Te  Deiims."  Alva  com- 
menced the  day  by  listening  to  a  sermon  in  Dutch — 
of  which  he  could  not  understand  a  word — preached 
by  the  bishop  of  Antwerp.  Then,  richly  habited 
and  accompanied  by  his  suite  and  a  retinue  of 
clergy,  the  duke  marched  to  the  cathedral  of  Our 
Lady,  where  a  mass  was  intoned  by  the  archbishop 
of  Cambray.  Towards  the  end  of  the  service,  the 
prelate  read  a  papal  letter  of  absolution,  which 
removed  the  ban  of  the  Inquisition  from  all  good 
E.omanists.t  Taking  this  clement  action  as  a  text, 
the  bishop  of  Arras  began  to  harangue  the  attentive 
throng ;  but  in  the  midst  of  his  eulogium  he  was 
taken  with  a  sudden  qualm,  and  carried  fainting 
from  the  pulpit — afncde  which  was  not  considered 
of  auspicious  omen 4 

Later  in  the  day,  Alva,  crowned  with  his  hal- 
lowed helmet  and  girt  with  his  consecrated  sword, 
entered  the  market-place  with  an  illustrious  follow- 
ing of  lords  and  churchmen.  Opposite  the  stadt- 
house  stood  a  bedizened  platform,  erected  for  the 
occasion.  Upon  this  the  duke,  together  with  his 
attendants,  ranged  themselves — Alva  seating  him- 
self "  high  on  a  throne  of  royal  state."     Then  the 

*  Bor.,  torn.  5,  p.  old.  f  Stnula,  uhi  sup.,  p.  68. 

X  Ibid. 


598  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

vast  assembly  was  silenced,  and  a  crier  bawled  out 
the  amnesty,  but  in  sucli  a  hoarse  voice  that  few 
conld  understand  him;  "which  was  perhaps  an 
accident,"  says  Strada ;  "  perhaps  so  ordered  by 
his  highness,  who  preferred  that  the  auditors  should 
measure  the  benefit  by  the  pomp  rather  than  by 
the  text."* 

However,  contrary  to  the  duke's  expectation, 
the  spectators  did  nothing  but  stare  at  the  show. 
Not  a  huzza  was  heard  in  the  afternoon,  not  a  bon- 
fire was  kindled  in  the  evening.!  When  the  indem- 
nity was  read — as  it  was  some  days  later  in  the 
printed  copies  which  were  thrown  off  by  the  gov- 
ernment press — the  feeling  of  the  people,  cool  at 
the  outset,  went  down  to  zero. 

The  act  was  in  three  parts — like  most  genteel 
comedies  :  a  recitation  of  the  sins  of  the  Nether- 
landers,  a  statement  of  the  terms  of  pardon,  and  a 
list  of  exceptions.  What  was  done  by  the  indem- 
nity was  undone  by  the  exceptions,  which  excluded 
from  benefit  all  reformed  preachers,  and  all  who 
had  lodged  them ;  the  image-breakers ;  those  who 
had  subscribed  the  compromise ;  those  who  had 
countenanced  the  petitions  of  the  nobles  in  Marga- 
ret's reign ;  those  affiliated  with  the  giieux;  and  all 
who  had  favored  the  opponents  of  the  king  under 
any  circumstances,  at  whatever  time.J 

Of  course  these  exceptions  included  every  class 
of  offenders,  and  left  only  the  innocent  to  be  for- 

*  strada,  ut  antea.  j  Ibid. 

i  VUIe  the  Ipsissima  Verba  iu  Bor.,  toni.  5,  ji.  320,  el  seq. 


ALVA'S  MILLENNIUM.  599 

giveu  ;*  and  equally,  of  course,  the  effect  iDroduced  by 
such  a  juggle  was  the  opiDOsite  of  salutary.  Yery 
iiiauy  Eomanists  denounced  the  act ;  for,  connected 
by  family  ties  with  persons  of  the  reformed  belief, 
some  of  them  had  performed  little  offices  of  kind- 
ness, perhaps  sheltered  a  hunted  neighbor,  in  these 
hard  times — deeds  which  an  amnesty  proclamation 
pronounced  enormous  crimes.t  Jeers  and  execra- 
tions were  heard  on  every  side.  The  punsters  trans- 
posed the  letters  of  the  word  ^x«T?o?ir/,  and  rebap- 
tised  the  new  measure  Pandora.  The  witticism  was 
not  without  classical  analogy.  The  amnesty,  like 
the  supposititious  casket  of  the  gods,  on  being 
oj^ened,  diffused  curses  instead  of  blessings.^ 

On  the  1st  of  November,  1570,  the  distress  of 
the  masses  was  increased  by  a  calamity  unparal- 
leled since  the  ark  landed  on  mount  Ararat.  An 
inundation,  caused  by  a  northwest  storm,  set  the 
sea  battling  through  two  days  with  the  dykes  and 
sluices  of  the  whole  Netherland  coast.§  The  nar- 
row peninsula  of  Holland  was  threatened  with  auni- 
liilation.  The  great  cities  of  the  north  were  trans- 
formed into  islands  in  mid-ocean.  The  land  became 
a  watery  waste.  At  every  rising  and  falling  of  the 
sea — both  tides  alike  merciless— household  goods, 
merchandise,  cattle,  the  broken  ribs  of  ships,  all 
were  tossed  hither  and  thither,  presenting  to  the 

«-  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  298. 

t  Metereu,  Bentivoglio,  d  alii. 

X  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  300. 

§  Hoofd,  toni.  0.  p.  205,  ei  scq.     Eraudt,  vol.  1,  p.  289. 


600  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

eye  a  model  of  tlie  flood.""  Nor  was  it  iDioperty 
alone  that  suffered  shipwreck.  In  the  single  prov- 
ince of  Friesland  twenty  thousand  men,  women, 
and  children  were  engulfed.f  Others  of  the  states 
were  proportionably  ainicted.  Everywhere  the  des- 
olation was  complete.  Many  of  the  Flemish  towns 
which  were  not  on  the  coast-line,  were  invaded  by 
the  rampant  deluge.'^ 

In  Friesland,  hundreds  climbed  to  the  tops  of 
hills,  and  took  refuge  in  church  belfries,  whence* 
they  were  taken  by  boats  sent  by  the  magistrates 
to  gather  up  the  needy,  and  to  fish  out  what  prop- 
erty might  be  afloat.  Upon  the  summit  of  one 
mound,  an  infant,  carried  thither  in  its  cradle,  was 
discovered  fast  asleep,  in  fear  neither  of  shipwreck 
nor  the  flood.§  When  the  waves  retired,  and  the 
burghers  were  at  leisure  to  count  up  their  losses, 
they  reckoned  the  property  submerged  to  be  incal- 
culable, and  put  down  the  hves  destroyed  at  one 
hundred  thousand.il 

In  the  millennium  which  Alva  had  rex3orted,  the 
provinces  were  thus  mangled  between  the  upper  and 
nether  millstones  of  human  cruelty  and  elemental 
wrath. 

«s  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  G9.  t  H^i^^-     Brandt,  uU  sup. 

t  Hoofd,  uhl  sup.  §  Strada,  ut  antea. 

II  Meteren,  Hoofd,  ut  aniea. 


PENNIES  AS  REVOLUTIONISTS.       GOl 


CHAPTEE    XXXIII. 

PENNIES  AS  EEVOLUTIONISTS. 

EuPiOPE  threo  liundrcd  years  ago,  almost  as 
markedlj  as  now-a-days,  was  a  plural  unit  rather 
than  a  congeries  of  isolated  states.  Widely  sepa- 
rated peoples  were  not  then,  as  now,  made  neigh- 
bors— cosmopolized,  by  newspapers  and  the  tele- 
graph. The  masses,  in  our  modern  sense,  were 
indeed  but  just  awakening  from  the  sleep  of  ages, 
and  stood  drowsy-eyed.  At  present,  it  is  not  cabi- 
nets, but  art,  science,  literature,  opinion,  fashion, 
commerce  that  are  the  motors  of  society,  moulding 
national  character  and  purpose.  In  the  sixteenth 
century,  government,  the  annals  of  half  a  dozen 
dynasties,  the  cabinets  of  Eome,  Madrid,  Paris, 
Brussels,  London,  covered  the  whole  plane  of  human 
life — trade,  letters,  industry,  religion ;  which  explains 
why  the  old  chronicles  deal  only  with  governmental 
doings — there  was  nothing  else  to  record.* 

Still,  in  the  face  of  this  fact,  it  is  true  that  at  the 
Eeformation  era  the  European  states  were  more  or 
less  intimately  allied,  some  by  a  union  of  interests, 
others  by  the  bond  of  a  common  faith ;  so  that  it  is 
impossible  clearly  to  understand  the  story  of  any 
one  of  the  foremost  powers  of  that  time  without  a 
comprehension  of  the  foreign  outlook. 

«  "Wendell  Phillips.  Speeches,  Lectures,  and  Letters,  p.  306. 

,„„n„  H.U  26 


e02  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

The  connection  between  tlie  Netherlands  and 
England  was  especially  close.  Neighbors  by  posi- 
tion, cousins  by  blood,  cradled  in  the  f-ame  Saxon 
forests,  the  Dutchman  and  the  Englishman  had  felt 
an  immemorial  affection  for  each  other — an  affection 
increased  to  the  utmost  cordiality  when  both  struck 
off  the  spiritual  shackles  of  the  Vatican,  and  became 
worshippers  at  a  freer  altar. 

The  transition  from  the  old  creed  to  the  gospel 
theology  had  been  scarce  more  stormy  in  the  Low 
Countries  than  in  Great  Britain ;  as  the  Lollards 
could  tell,  and  as  the  still  recent  reign  of  "  bloody 
Mary  "  avouched.  The  victory  of  the  Preformation 
left  Eomanism  large,  imposing,  puissant,  and  ill- 
satisfied  to  accept  the  result — prone,  like  Saul,  to 
kick  against  the  pricks. 

During  Alva's  governor-generalship  of  the  Neth- 
erlands, Elizabeth  was  on  the  English  throne ;  a 
Protestant  queen,  but  a  half-Romanist  woman, 
vacillating  in  action,  marvellously  overrated  as  a 
sovereign.  Happily  for  the  island,  at  this  the  most 
critical  period  of  its  history,  its  safety  was  in  abler 
and  more  skilful  hands  than  those  of  the  daughter 
of  Henry  YIII.  Cecil  was  at  the  helm,*  and  alert 
Protestantism  stood  beside  him. 

a  (<  (Tell  his  majesty,'  wrote  Don  Gueran,  the  Spanish  ambas- 
sador at  the  court  of  St.  James,  to  Cayas,  '  that  Cecil  is  a  lbs  cun- 
ning as  sin,  and  the  mortal  enemy  of  Spain.  He  moves  in  silence 
and  falsehood,  and  what  he  will  do  against  holy  church  is  only 
limited  by  his  power.  The  queen's  oi:)inion  goes  for  little,  and 
Leicester's  for  less  ;  Cecil  rules  all,  unopposed,  with  the  pride  of 
Lucifer.'"    Froude,  vol.  10,  p.  258. 


PENNIES  AS  REVOLUTIONISTS.       603 

The  Romanists,  ousted  at  court,  became  plot- 
ters almost  to  a  man — three-quarters  of  the  peers 
and  half  the  gentlemen  of  England.*  Reactionist 
outbreaks  were  the  order  of  the  day ;  for  churchmen, 
who  on  the  Continent  preached  the  divine  right  of 
kings,  believed  in  Great  Britain  that  obnoxious 
crowned  heads  might  be  lawfully  deposed.!  Nev- 
ertheless, the  heretic  jorincess  retained  the  sceptre, 
and  each  baffled  conspiracy  weakened  the  papists 
and  depleted  their  purses,  while  retaliatory  legisla- 
tion placed  them  under  a  harsh  judicial  ban. 

In  despair  of  unsupported  success,  they  finally 
appealed  to  their  natural  leaders,  the  pope  and  the 
European  princes,  for  guidance  and  aid.  The  de- 
sideratum was  a  grand  crusade  of  the  Romanist 
powers  for  the  recovery  of  England.  Ridolfi,  a 
Florentine  long  resident  in  England,  was  the  agent 
through  whom  the  British  papists  communicated 
with  their  foreign  sympathizers.  The  abduction  or 
assassination  of  Elizabeth,  the  liberation  of  Mary 
of  Scotland,  then  a  prisoner  in  England,  and  the 
placing  the  beautiful  adulteress  upon  the  throne  of 
Great  Britain  under  Romish  tutelage — such  was 
the  object  of  this  the  last  combined  effort  of  the 
English  aristocracy  to  undo  the  Reformation.:]:  In 
the  service  of  this  x)lot,  Ridolfi,  who  gave  his  name 
to  the  conspiracy,  plied  incessantly  between  Lon- 
don and  Rome,  Brussels  and  Madrid. 

*  Fronde,  uhi  sup.,  p.  1.  f  Ibid. 

J  Corresp.  de  Philippe  11. ,  torn.  2,  p.  1038.  Froude,  Hist,  of 
England,  vol.  10,  p.  272. 


604         THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

In  Febniaiy,  1570,  Pius  V.  licensed  the  pro- 
posed murder  bj  excommunicating  Elizabeth  and 
absolving  the  lieges  of  the  realm  from  their  alle- 
giance.* This  bull — a  weapon  forged  in  the  armo- 
ry, not  of  heaven,  but  of  the  Vatican — elicited  but 
a  single  response  on  the  Continent,  that  of  Philip 
II,,  the  one  crusader  who  survived  in  Europe. 
Maximilian  was  occupied  in  hunting  up  a  market 
for  his  remaining  daughters.  France  was  busy  in 
maturing  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew ;  besides, 
Catharine  de'  Medici  was  angling  to  catch  the 
maiden-queen  for  one  of  the  French  princes.  But 
it  behooved  Philip,  the  most  orthodox  of  kings,  and 
the  Spanish  nation,  the  most  passionately  Eomau- 
ist  in  the  world,  to  act.  Was  it  not  the  duty  of  a 
monarch  who  was  upholding  the  cross  against  the 
crescent  in  the  Mediterranean,  who  was  burning 
heresy  in  the  Netherlands,  to  execute  the  behest  of 
the  vicar  of  God  ? 

Philip  set  about  the  work  with  alacrity.  Num- 
berless interviews  were  held  with  Ilidolfi;t  the 
Spanish  cabinet  formally  approved  the  plot;|  and 
Chiappino  Vitelli,  who  had  travelled  post  from  the 
Low  Countries  for  the  purpose,  offered  to  strike  the 
fatal  blow.§ 

Alva  was  at  once  apprized  of  this  resolution, 
and  commanded  to  give  the  conspirators  all  the 

*  Froude,  uhl  sup.,  p.  10.     Camden,  Aunals  of  the  Eeigu  of 
Queen  Elizabeth.  f  Froiide,  uhi  sup.,  p.  250. 

t  Ibid.,  p.  251,  el  seq.  MS.,  Simancas. 
§  MS.  Simancas.     Frotide,  uhi  sup.,  p.  25G. 


PENNIES  AS  REVOLUTIONISTS.      G05 

assistaDce  in  his  power,  acting  secretly  but  with 
decision.* 

Many  letters  had  already  passed  between  the 
duke  and  the  king  on  this  subject.  The  governor- 
general  had  long  been  looking  for  some  "ford"  by 
which  to  wade  into  England  ;t  and,  though  he 
lacked  confidence  in  Eidolfi,:};  he  promised  to  stint 
nothing  in  the  preparations  against  Elizabeth. 
Philip  had  written :  "  The  end  proposed  is  to  kill 
or  to  capture  Elizabeth,  to  free  the  queen  of  Scot- 
land, and  to  set  tipon  her  head  the  crown  of  Eng- 
land. I  hope  that  God,  whose  cause  it  is,  will 
enlighten  and  assist  us.  Be  ready  to  throw  six 
thousand  arquebusiers  into  England,  two  thousand 
into  Scotland,  and  two  thousand  into  Ireland  the 
instant  the  blow  is  struck. "§  To  which  the  devout 
duke  replied :  "  I  highly  applaud  you  for  this  plot, 
and  cannot  help  rendering  infinite  thanks  to  God 
for  having  made  me  vassal  to  such  a  prince."ll 

But,  alas  for  ultramontanism,  this  murderous 
"  practice  "  was  not  to  prosper.  In  the  autumn  of 
1571,  Cecil,  "who  had  his  eyes  everywhere,"  suc- 
ceeded in  unravelling  the  intricate  web  of  the  con- 
spiracy.! "  The  affair  is  upset,"  said  Alva,  "  and 
there's  an  end  of  it."**  Nevertheless,  Philip  be- 
lieved that  it  was  not  yet  too  late.    "  Angels,"  wrote 

**  Correspoudance  de  Philippe  II.,  ut  antea. 

t  Froude,  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  10,  p.  203. 

J  Correspoudance  de  Philippe  II.,  uhl  siq).,  p.  1035. 

§  Ibid.,  p.  1038.  II  Ibid.,  p.  1041. 

^  Froude,  ubi  sup.,  pp.  154,  301,  passim.     Bnrnet,  Hume. 

**  Letter  of  Alva  to  Don  Juan  de  Cuniga.     MS.,  Simaucas. 


()06  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

he,  "will  figlit  for  the  good  cause."*  But  the 
astute  duke  desh-ed  to  placate  the  queeu  whom  he 
could  not  stab  ;  therefore  he  favored  leaving  the 
angels  to  fight  it  out.f  Eventually,  the  king  deci- 
ded to  give  over  the  attempt,  though  not  until  the 
failure  of  several  assassins  set  to  do  the  deed  forced 
even  his  opaque  intellect  to  see  the  madness  of 
persistence.:]: 

While  the  king  and  the  duke  were  incubating 
the  plot  against  Elizabeth,  and  before  their  failure 
in  England  broke  up  the  nest  of  the  assassins,  the 
prince  of  Orange  was  again  in  motion.  William 
had  spent  upwards  of  a  twelvemonth  in  France, 
doing  the  Huguenots  yeomanlj  service  at  La  Char- 
it6,  Roche-de-la-Ville,  and  Poictiers.§  But  though 
a  volunteer  in  a  foreign  service,  ho  had  been  no 
unconcerned  spectator  of  passing  events  in  the 
Netherlands.  The  persecution,  the  illegal  taxes,  the 
conspiracy  to  murder  a  neighbor  sovereign,  on  the 
pretext  of  a  spurious  sanctity  and  the  needs  of 
despotism — he  saw  it  all,  and  felt  that  duty  as  well 
as  inclination  bade  him  be  at  hand  to  checkmate,  if 
possible,  the  royal  game.  The  future  was  indeed 
but  vacancy,  but  it  was  vacancy  peopled  with  its 
million  possibilities. 

So,  in  the  autumn  of  1569,  the  prince  left  Count 
Louis  to  command  the  horsemen  whom  he  had  led 

•-■  Fronde,  nhi  sup.,  p.  302. 
t  Letter  of  Alva  to  Dou  Juan,  etc.,  ubi  sup. 
J  Corresp.  de  Philij^pe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  1051. 
§  Archives  ct  Correspoudauce  de  la  Maison  d'Orauge-Nassau, 
torn.  3,  p.  316,  et  scq. 


PENNIES  AS  REVOLUTIONISTS.      C07 

into  France  at  the  end  of  the  disastrous  campaign 
of  '58,  shook  hands  with  Coligny,  passed  the  pick- 
ets of  Guise  in  a  peasant's  dress,  and  reached  the 
castle  of  Dillenburg  before  the  snow  felL* 

But  the  beggar  prince  came  back  to  no  such 
reception  as  was  wont  to  be  given  him  when  an 
annual  income  of  two  hundred  thousand  florinsf 
built  the  2)ortico  of  his  philanthropy.  Old  friends 
fell  off,  and  new  ones  were  not  easily  made.  His  old 
debtors,  the  soldiers,  too,  began  to  trouble  him4 
The  great  ones  insulted  him  with  empty  protesta- 
tions of  pity.  All  believed  him  to  be  a  hopelessly 
ruined  man. 

William  meant  to  live  down  this  mistake.  He 
was  indeed  forlornly  broken  in  fortune ;  so  much  so, 
that  he  was  compelled  to  give  his  personal  atten- 
tion to  the  homeliest  details  of  a  straitened  domes- 
tic economy — he,  the  mate  of  emperors,  the  epicure 
whose  dainty  cuisine  had  been  the  envy  of  Europe.§ 
But  what  then  ?  His  inheritance  had  been  wasted, 
not  in  riotous  living,  as  seemed  its  probable  fate  at 
one  time,  but  in  the  sertice  of  the  gospel  and  of 
liberty.  Wasted  ?  Nay,  invested — laid  up  "  where 
neither  moth  nor  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where 
thieves  do  not  break  through  nor  steal." 

■~-  Archives  et  Correspondance  de  la  Maisou  d'Orange-Nassau, 
torn.  3,  p.  322.     De  Thou,  torn.  5,  p.  627. 

f  Vide  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  115.  Even  after 
the  conliscation  of  his  Netherland  estates,  his  income  "was  sixty 
thoiisand  florins  ]3er  annum.  Wagenaer.  Cited  in  Motley,  vol. 
2,  p.  '243,  note.  {  Archives,  etc.,  uhi  sup.,  p.  355,  et  seq. 

§  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  327. 


608  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

All  this  William  bore  as  a  Christian  should, 
without  repining,  with  pious  resignation,  for  he 
knew  that  God  "  doeth  all  things  well."  Neverthe- 
less, he  remembered  the  grand  cause ;  and  now  that 
he  was  himself  unable  to  sujDport  it  unaided,  he  felt 
no  hesitation  in  calling  on  all  upon  whom  he  had 
a  claim,  to  contribute  to  its  Avants.  This  he  did  in 
the  winter  and  spring  of  1570,*  in  a  series  of  able 
papers  drawn  up  with  a  free  pen,  and  used  with 
gi'eat  effect  by  those  agents  whom  he  employed  in 
canvassing  for  funds. t 

; .  In  one  of  these,  styled  the  "  Harangue,"  he 
made  this  forcible  appeal  to  the  reformed :  "  Our 
enemies  sj)are  neither  money  nor  labor;  will  you 
be  colder  and  duller  than  your  foes?  Let,  then, 
each  church,  the  feeblest  congregation,  set  an  ex- 
ample to  others.  We  read  that  King  Saul,  when 
he  would  liberate  the  men  of  Jabesli  from  the  hands 
of  Nabash,  the  Ammonite,  hewed  a  yoke  of  oxen  in 
pieces,  and  sent  them  as  tokens  over  all  Israel, 
saying :  '  Ye  who  will  not  follow  Saul  and  Samuel, 
with  them  shall  be  dealt  'even  as  with  these  oxen. 
And  the  fear  of  the  Lord  came  upon  the  people, 
and  they  came  forth,  and  the  men  of  Jabesh  were 
delivered,'  You  have  here  the  same  warning;  look 
to  it,  watch  well,  ye  that  despise  it,  lest  the  wrath 
of  God,  which  the  men  of  Israel  by  their  speedy 
obedience  escaped,  descend  upon  your  heads."J 

At  the  same  time,  the  prince  empowered  the  re- 

«  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  285.     Bor.,  torn.  G,  p.  303,  et  seq. 

t  Ibid.  ^  Cited  in  Bor.,  ut  aniea. 


PENNIES  AS  llEVOLUTIONISTS.        COJ 

formed  preachers  of  the  provinces  to  make  weekly 
and  monthly  collections  among  their  parishioners — 
agents  the  most  powerful  and  successful  by  reason 
of  their  piety,  eloquence,  and  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  disposition  and  sj'mpathies  of  the  masses.* 
The  pastors  assured  their  heafers  that  all  sums  con- 
tributed should  be  used  for  the  expulsion  of  Alva, 
and  the  securing  of  the  states  in  the  possession 
of  their  charters  and  of  the  evangelical  religion.f 
They  acquitted  themselves  so  zealously  that  those 
who  listened  to  their  pleas  not  only  made  it  a  scru- 
ple of  conscience  not  to  give  either  nothing  or 
sparingly,  but  even  esteemed  themselves  not  good 
Christians  if  they  did  not  support  the  cause  with 
the  most  open-handed  generosity  ;  though  the  rich- 
est were  the  slowest  and  most  stinted  in  their  con- 
tributions, and  what  was  gotten  came  mostly  from 
the  necessitous  pockets  of  the  lower  and  the  middle 
classes.^ 

William  made  an  especial  appeal  to  the  body 
then  called  the  Anabaptists,  as  being  the  most  ill- 
used  of  the  mediaeval  sects.  In  response,  one  of 
their  pastors,  Peter  Boomgard — he  deserves  that 
history  should  remember  his  name — collected  at 
the  secret  conventicles  of  his  people  ten  hundred 
and  sixty  guilders,  a  large  sum  for  those  daj's,  and 
placed  the  money  in  person  in  the  prince's  hands, 
travelling  many  leagues  at  jeopard  of  his  life  to  do 
so.  "  Take  in  good  part  this  trifling  present  from 
your  servants,"  ^aid  he  ;  "  esteeming  your  favor  to 

o  Brumlt,  vol.  1,  p.  285.  t  Ibid.  t  Ibid.,  p.  20G. 

26* 


610  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

be  greater  than  the  gift,  we  do  not  desire  to  be  re- 
paid, though  we  are  poor  withal."  "  What  return, 
then,  can  I  make  you  ?"  queried  William.  "  If  God 
bestows  on  you  the  gOA^ernment  of  the  provinces, 
give  us  recognition  and  the  protection  of  the  laws," 
was  the  reply.  "  That  I  will,"  said  Orange  ;  "  you 
and  all  men."  Then  he  gave  Boomgard  a  receii3t 
for  the  mone}',  and  also  wrote  out  and  signed  an 
obligation  to  bear  the  Anabaptists  harmless  in  the 
event  of  his  success.-' 

By  these  and  kindred  means,  the  patriot  exche- 
quer was  at  least  redeemed  from  bankruptcy.  Best 
of  all,  every  guilder  thus  obtained  was  a  prayer  as 
well  as  so  much  silver — a  tool  of  action  and  a  token 
of  the  set  determination  of  the  people  to  be  free. 

William  had  wisely  resolved  to  make  the  north- 
ern provinces  his  next  scene  of  action. f  In  Hol- 
land, Zealand,  Friesland,  and  the  rest,  the  reformed 
religion  had  made  greater  progress  than  in  the 
south ;  the  inhabitants  were  more  persistent ;  the 
spirit  of  independence  was  higher.  From  the  na- 
ture of  the  landscape,  intersected  by  navigable 
rivers,  by  canals,  and  by  branches  of  the  sea,  men 
dreaded  less,  and  were  less  exposed  to  the  power  of 
the  Spaniard.  It  seemed  a  cluster  of  states  fitted 
by  nature  and  by  art  to  be  the  Thermopylae  of 
Protestantism. 

The  prince  was  in  active  correspondence  with 
the  chief  men  of  the  north.     Paul  Buys  especially, 

■-=  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  295. 

t  Bor.,  torn.  5,  p.  '280,  d  seq.    Watson,  Life  of  Philip  II.,  p.  165. 


PENNIES  AS  REVOLUTIONISTS.        Gil 

the  shrewd  aud  patriotic  pensionary  of  Leyden,* 
sounded  for  him  the  current  of  events,  and  kept 
him  carefully  advised  of  the  ebb  and  flow  of  opinion 
in  the  states.f  Under  the  very  eyes  of  the  ubiqui- 
tous "sevenpenny  men"  of  Alva,  intrigues  were  set 
afoot,  and  plans  were  concerted  between  the  exiled 
seigneur  and  his  domestic  allies ;  and  all  was  so 
wisely  contrived  that  not  a  rumor  reached  the 
governor-general's  suspicious  ears.  From  time  to 
time,  covert  attempts  were  made  to  capture  some 
one  or  another  of  the  port  towns  of  Holland — now 
Enchuyzen,  and  now  Flushing;  but  when,  from  dif- 
ferent causes,  these  proved  abortive,  they  were 
quietly  laid  by  till  Heaven  should  be  more  pro- 
pitious. 

One  of  these  attempts,  however,  had  a  difiereut 
result.  In  the  dusk  of  a  December  day  in  1570, 
four  men  habited  as  monks  of  the  order  of  mendi- 
cant Gray  Friars,  craved  shelter  for  the  night  at 
the  gate  of  the  fortress  of  Lowenstein.  The  castlo 
was  situated  quite  on  the  verge  of  the  isle  of  Bom- 
mel,  a  narrow  but  important  jut  of  land  shut  in  be- 
tween the  jaws  of  the  rivers  Meuse  and  Waal ;  aud 
it  commanded  the  junction  of  their  waters,  and  also 
the  adjacent  cities  of  Sorcum  and  Dorcum.:]; 

Hospitality  to  the  children  of  the  church  was 
always  in  order  in  the  castles  of  King  Philip,  and 

*  A  pensionary  was  the  chief  municipal  officer  of  the  towns  of 
Holland  and  Zealand, 
f  Bor.,  ubl  sup.,  p.  289. 
%  Bcntivoglio,  lib.  5,  p.  87.     Cited  in  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  317. 


612  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

the  mendicants  were  clieerfully  admitted;  but  on 
being  conducted  into  the  j)resence  of  the  castellan 
they  proved  beggars  of  an  unexpected  type.  "  For 
whom  do  you  hold  this  fortress  ?"  suddenly  inquired 
one  of  the  intruders,  a  giant  named  De  Ruyter,  and 
an  enthusiastic  partisan  of  William.  "For  his 
majesty  King  Philip,  of  course,"  replied  the  sur- 
prised commandant.  De  Euyter's  response  was  a 
pistol-shot.  Within  ten  minutes  the  four  supposed 
monks  were  in  full  possession  of  the  castle.* 

An  additional  number  of  men,  twenty  perhaps, 
were  then  admitted  ;  and  a  large  reinforcement  was 
expected  by  De  Ruyter,  which,  detained  by  an  ice 
storm,  failed  to  reach  Lowenstein.f  Meantime,  the 
Spanish  governor  of  Bois-le-Duc,  apprized  of  the 
daring  deed,  despatched  a  company  of  veterans  to 
retake  the  place.  Presently  it  was  escaladed ;  for 
how  could  such  a  garrison  defend  walls  which  hun- 
dreds should  have  manned?  But  De  Euyter  had 
no  idea  of  surrender.  Inch  by  inch  he  fought  with 
the  stubborn  valor  of  a  Co3ur-de-Leon ;  and  finall}^,, 
when  pressed  back  by  stress  of  numbers  into  the 
citadel,  he  stooped  to  the  floor,  touched  a  spark  to 
a  train  of  powder  previously  strewn  over  the  apart- 
ment, and  like  Samson  in  the  temi^le  of  the  Philis- 
tines, brought  the  tower  down  in  tumultuous  ruin 
upon  himself  and  his  antagonists.:]^ 

Upon  deciding  to  gain  a  foothold  iii  the  north, 

*  Mendoza,  torn.  5,  p.  109. 
■  t  IbicT.,  p.  110.     Motley,  uU  sup.,  p.  118. 
X  Ibid.    Bor.,  torn.  G,  p.  331. 


PENNIES  AS  REVOLUTIONISTS.        olo 

Orange  had  also  resolved,  in  compliance  with  the 
sage  advice  of  the  French  admiral  Coligny,  given 
while  the  liberator  was  a  sojourner  among  the 
Huguenots,*  as  much  as  might  be  to  transfer  hos- 
tilities from  the  land,  where  he  was  over-matched 
by  Alva,  to  the  sea,  the  natural  element  of  the  am- 
phibious Hollanders,  upon  which  the  gueux  would 
be  invincible. 

At  this  period  the  English  channel  swarmed 
with  corsairs.  The  prettiest  and  the  fleetest  craft 
afloat  were  manned  and  ofiicered  by  mariners  who 
took  the  stars  for  their  patrons  and  the  tables  of 
\'atitudo  and  longitude  for  a  liturgy.  At  the  outset, 
ti  3  privateersmen  sailed  under  letters  of  marque 
issi  ed  by  Cond6,  with  the  Huguenot  flag  nailed  to 
their  masthead ;  and  they  regarded  all  papists  as 
legitimate  prey.t  Not  a  Romish  merchant  in  Europe 
or  the  Indies  who  "  went  down  to  the  sea  in  ships," 
bT"*"  '^"'^-0  to  grief.  Alva  rated  the  injury  annually 
(lone  by  them  to  Spanish  commerce  at  three  hun- 
dred thousand  ducats.:|: 

Since  the  advent  of  the  duke,  these  rovers  had 
been  joined  by  scores  of  Netherland  seamen.  Every 
ruined  trader,  every  outlawed  seigneur  scraped  up 
the  remnant  of  his  fortune,  invested  it  in  a  vessel, 
got  a  commission  from  Coligny  or  the  queen  of 
Navarre,  drummed  up  a  crew  on  the  quays  of  the 

«  Du  Mauiier,  p.  43. 

f  Froude,  Hist.  Eng.,  vol.  10,  p.  77,  et  seq. 
J  Guerau  clc  Espes  to  Philip,  August  25,  15G8.     MS.,  Siman- 
cas. 


614  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

provincial  seaports,  and  took  to  privateering  against 
Spain  for  tlie  double  purpose  of  amassing  wealth 
and  avenging  wrongs. 

In  1570,  forty  or  fifty  sail  held  the  coast  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Ems  to  the  harbor  of  Rochelle  * 
Spanish  galleons,  freighted  with  the  fragrant  spices 
of  the  East,  with  the  diamonds  of  Golconda,  with 
the  gold  of  either  Ind,  were  seized  at  sight  and  sold 
openly  in  the  favorite  harbor  of  the  corsairs  at 
Dover.f  Sometimes  these  "beggars  of  the  sea," 
who  asked  their  alms  at  the  cannon's  mouth,  made 
descents  upon  the  Spanish  coast,  sacking  churches 
and  convents,  pilfering  silver  in  such  amounts  that 
its  price  was  depreciated  in  the  European  money- 
market,  and  at  their  wassails  drinking  success  to 
privateering  in  wine  tapped  from  monastic  casks  in 
the  consecrated  vessels.  J: 

For  the  threefold  jourpose  of  reducing  the  rovers 
to  some  degree  of  order — for,  demoralized  by  the 
license  of  such  a  life,  they  were  not  always  careful 
to  discriminate  between  friend  and  foe  in  the  exer- 
cise of  their  powers — of  draining  off  some  portion 
of  their  gains  into  the  needy  treasury  of  the  good 
cause,  and  of  employing  them  against  the  governor- 
general,  the  prince  of  Orange  issued  letters  of 
marque  to  as  many  as  were  willing  to  receive  them, 
and  to  come  under  the  discipline  established  for 
his  fleet.§ 

«  Froude,  ubi  sup.,  p.  78.     Viinclervyuckt.  f  Ibid. 

i  Froude,  vol.  10,  p.  240.     MS.,  Simancas. 
§  Bor.,  torn.  5,  p.  289.    Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  285. 


PENNIES  AS  KEVOLUTIONISTS.        615 

This  code  prescribed  the  strict  enforcement  of 
the  articles  of  war ;  the  payment  to  the  prince  of  a 
fifth  part  of  all  gains ;  the  "  providing  a  chaplain 
for  every  ship,  so  that  the  pure  word  of  God  might 
be  preached  to  all  the  seamen  ;"  and  the  reception 
of  none  save  "folk  of  good  name  and  fame,"-  to 
serve  as  mariners.  Nevertheless,  colossal  abuses, 
impossible  to  be  suppressed  in  an  irregular  service, 
hurt  the  reputation  and  hampered  the  usefulness  of 
this  infant  navyt — the  germ  of  those  later  puissant 
fleets  which,  under  the  conduct  of  Van  Tromp, 
swept  the  sea  with  brooms  lashed  to  their  mast- 
heads, in  token  of  the  haughty  supremacy  of  Hol- 
land. 

In  the  utilizing  the  privateers,  in  the  collection 
of  friendly  contributions,  and  in  the  maturing  a 
comprehensive  scheme  of  invasion,  William  spent 
the  years  1570  and  1571.  Meanwhile,  Philip's  vice- 
roy was  proving  the  prince's  unconscious  but  most 
efficient  ally.  As  the  term  for  which  he  had  arrang- 
ed with  the  provincial  deputies  to  hold  the  obnox- 
ious taxes  in  abeyance  verged  towards  its  close, 
Alva  prepared  to  resume  his  demand  for  the  tenth 
and  twentieth  pennies.  Upon  this  subject  there 
was  incessant  wrangling  at  the  council-board,  the 
duke  affirming  that  the  states  had  assented  to  the 
imposts,  and  Viglius,  the  new  tribune  of  the  people, 
or  rather  of  the  monied  classes,  begging  to  remind 

*  Brandt,  uhl  svp.,  p.  290.     Bor.,  uU  sup.,  p.  324,  et  seq. 
f  Archives  de  la  Maison  d'Oraiige-Nassau,  torn.  4,  p.  G3.    MS., 
Siuiaucas. 


GIG  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

his  highness  that  the  assent  had  been  nulUfied  by 
the  failure  of  the  condition-precedent — the  concur- 
rence of  all  voices.* 

This  declaration  of  the  learned  Frisian  always 
threw  Alva  into  a  towering  rage,  and  on  one  occa- 
sion he  threatened  to  chastise  a  repetition  of  the 
statement.'!"  The  menace  was  soon  city  gossip  ; 
every  barber,  every  old  woman  in  Brussels  became 
its  publisher.!  But  Viglius  was  firm  for  once — 
guilders  were  at  stake.  "  I  am  convinced,"  said  he 
to  the  governor-general,  "  that  the  king  will  not 
condemn  me  unheard;  but  at  any  rate,  my  gray 
hairs  save  me  from  fear  of  death. "§ 

On  the  31st  of  July,  1571,  Alva  decreed  the  sum- 
mary collection  of  the  taxes.H  An  unprecedented 
hubbub  was  the  result.  The  estates  of  the  respec- 
tive provinces,  the  citizens  of  the  great  towns,  met 
to  protest  and  to  avow  their  purpose  to  resist.l^ 
Holland  refused  to  promulgate  the  edict,*-  And 
when  the  duke  appointed  collectors  and  receivers 
of  the  moneys,  those  designated  refused  to  serve, 
nor  would  the  magistrates  compel  them  to  perform 
the  odious  duty.  At  Amsterdam,  the  aldermen 
shifted  the  work  on  the  burgomasters,  and  they 
again  upon  the  aldermen ;  so  that  between  the  two 
the  collection  itself  went  begging. ft  In  conse- 
quence, the  city  was  fined   twenty-five   thousand 

*  Viglii,  Com.  dec.  Deu.,  sees.  45,  46. 

t  Ibid.,  sec.  28.  J  Ibid.,  sec.  50.  §  Ibid.,  sec.  47. 

II  ibid.,  sec.  38.  %  Bor.,  torn.  5,  p.  345,  et  seq. 

*'•'  Ibid.     Braudt,  vol.  1,  p.  2'JO.  ff  Brandt,  ujbi  sup. 


PENNIES  AS  REVOLUTIONISTS.      017 

guilders* — an  exaction  wliicli  increased,  if  possible, 
the  popular  rage,  and  set  even  the  Franciscan 
monks  to  railing  at  Alva  as  an  extortionate  tyrant.f 
The  estates  of  Holland  ordered  a  fast  to  be  ob- 
served, and  had  public  prayers  offered,  "  that  God 
would  vouchsafe  to  soften  the  hard  and  cruel  heart 
of  the  duke,  to  the  end  that  he  might  hearken  to 
reason  and  equitj."| 

On  the  25th  of  September,  1571,  Philip,  in  com- 
pliance with  the  reiterated  requests  of  Alva — per- 
haps also  because  himself  not  quite  pleased  with 
the  arrogance  of  the  viceroy,  commissioned  the 
duke  of  Medina  Coeli  to  succeed  him.§  However, 
Alva  was  bidden  to  retain  the  government  until  the 
arrival  of  the  new  governor,  who  would  not  be 
ready  for  some  months  to  sail  for  the  provinces.il 

When  a  rumor  of  this  news  got  abroad,  the  hos- 
tile spirit  of  the  masses  increased  apace,  and  while 
the  duke  was  yet  in  Brussels,  even  began  in  imagi- 
nation to  celebrate  the  outgoing  of  their  oppressor. IT 
The  weak-knees  of  the  councillors,  Viglius,  Barlai- 
mont,  Aerschot,  were  marvellously  stiffened^ — for 
there  is  nothing  so  contemptible  in  the  eyes  of 
toadies  as  a  falling  courtier. 

Presently,  even  Alva's  haughty  spirit  was  ap- 
palled by  the  tempestuous  wrath  of  the  people. 
He  ordered  the  tax  of  ten  per  cent,  to  be  remitted 

*  Brandt,  ubi  sup.  f  Ibid.  J  ILid. 

§  Corresp.  de  Philii^pe  II.,  torn.  2,  p,  1055. 

II  Ibid.,  p.  105C. 

II  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  G9. 


618  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

upon  raw  materials  used  in  manufactures,  and  on 
four  staple  articles— wine,  beer,  corn,  and  meat.* 
But  these  immunities,  wbich  lie  regarded  as  crimi- 
nally condescending,  did  not  tend  to  reconcile  the 
provincials  to  his  illegal  and  ruinous  impost;  on  the 
contrary,  they  construed  the  concession  into  proof 
of  the  duke's  inability  to  enforce  the  law. 

Alva's  correspondence  with  the  king  began  to 
teem  with  .  complaints — to  hint  the  faults,  and  to 
hesitate  dislike  of  the  councillors  who  had  fallen 
away  from  him  at  this  critical  moment  ;!•  while  the 
opposition  of  the  states  to  the  tax  was  denounced 
as  being  not  in  the  interest  of  the  fisheries,  or  of 
trade,  or  of  manufactures,  but  from  a  "fear  that  in 
future  they  might  not  be  able  to  dictate  the  law  to 
their  sovereign.":]: 

The  courtiers  at  Madrid  openl}'  scoffed  at  the 
financial  projects  of  the  duke;  and  Philip  felt  that 
his  mission  was  the  extirpation  of  heresy,  not  the 
suppression  of  commerce ;  and  he  began  to  be 
uneasy  lest  the  trade  of  the  Low  Countiies  should 
be  hamstrung.§  This  uneasiness  was  increased  by 
the  reports  which  the  Spanish  ambassador  at  Paris 
forwarded  to  him  early  in  1572,  after  a  personal 
visit  to  Brussels.  "  Sire,"  wrote  he,  "  the  duke  is 
the  best  hated  man  in  Christendom.  This  whole 
people  are  crying,  '  Let  him  begone,  let  him  begone.' 
I  do  not  think  it  possible  to  collect  the  tenth  penny 

■^'  Bor.,  torn.  5,  p.  345,  et  seq.     Viglii,  Com.,  etc. 

t  Cones,  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  pp.  1095,  1103,  etc. 

i  Ibid.,  p.  1003.  §  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  310. 


PENNIES  AS  REVOLUTIONISTS.      G19 

without  mining  the  states."'^  Puzzled,  undecided, 
half-hearted,  Philip  did  not  give  his  viceroy's 
method  of  finance  the  cordial  support  which  would 
have  been  the  stay  of  an  auto  da  fe  programme. 

Though  bereft  of  sympathy  where  he  most  ex- 
pected it,  Alva  was  far  from  the  surrender  of  his 
pet  imposts — feeling  rather  that  his  honor  was 
staked  upon  success.  Thus  far  little  or  nothing 
had  been  harvested  by  the  gleaners  of  the  assess- 
ments. Nettled,  and  in  want  of  money,  he  decided, 
in  the  spring  of  1572,  to  make  a  grand  levy  of  the 
tenth  penny  in  Brussels,  convinced  that  his  pres- 
ence, backed  by  the  men-at-arms  in  town,  would 
insure  the  reaping  of  the  tax  in  the  capital,  and 
give  him  a  precedent.! 

The  citizens  learned  of  the  duke's  intention,  and 
imanimously  resolved  to  cease  all  traffic.  Every 
counting-room  was  closed,  every  manufactory  was 
locked,  every  shop  was  shut ;  the  bakers  forbore  to 
bake,  the  brewers  refused  to  brew,  the  tapsters 
would  not  tap,  the  butchers  did  not  kill,  the  farm- 
ers' stalls  were  barred  in  the  market-place,  and  even 
the  innkeepers  closed  their  doors  against  all  cus- 
tom.:!: Brussels  looked  plague-stricken.  "Want  was 
in  every  home.  Yet  no  one  thought  of  submission. 
It  was  a  form  of  passive  resistance  against  which 
■  cannon  were  powerless. 

It  may  seem  strange  to  some  that  these  pennies 

'■'  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  uhi  sup.,  p.  1074. 

t  Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  361.     Brandt. 

J  Ibid.     Stiada,  torn.  2,  p.  70.     Braudt,  vol.  1,  p.  295. 


G20         THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION, 

should  prove  sucli  potent  revolutionists  where  mar- 
tyr-piles and  innumerable  scaffolds  had  pleaded 
vainl3%  But  it  should  be  remembered  that  events 
are  cumulative.  The  sufferings  endured  from  the 
tj-rannj  of  Alva,  the  non-intercourse  with  England, 
and,  finall}^,  practical  confiscation  in  the  guise  of 
taxation,  had  exasperated  the  provincials  until  they 
were  prepared  to  adopt  the  most  desperate  retalia- 
tory measures. 

Besides,  the  most  atrocious  persecution  assails 
but  a  class,  extends  but  to  a  certain  number  of 
individuals.  There  are  thousands  whom  it  does 
not  touch,  and  thousands  more  who  sym23athize 
with  the  most  cruel  bigotry.  But  the  tax-gatherer 
knocks  at  all  doors;  imposts  such  as  those  of  Alva 
mortgage  the  right  hand  of  every  man's  labor ; 
filching  from  all  pockets  and  emptying  all  larders, 
they  provoke  all  to  rebel.  Cobbett  says  that  civili- 
zation comes  through  the  stomach.  Yes ;  but  often, 
as  in  this  instance,  civilization  gets  no  farther  than 
the  stomach,  mistaking  the  half-way-house  for  the 
end  of  the  journey. 

When  the  burghers  shut  up  their  shops  and 
warehouses,  declaring  that  they  had  no  goods  to 
sell,  and  ought  therefore  to  pay  no  taxes,  the  gov- 
ernor-general fell  "  to  cursing  like  a  very  drab,  a 
Scullion."  Such  presumption,  in  the  capital,  under 
his  very  eyes,  called  for  chastisement,  public,  im- 
mediate. Alva  made  out  a  list  of  eighteen  princi- 
pal citizens,  and  sent  for  Master  Carl  the  hangman. 
"  Here,  sirrah,"  said  he,  handing  his  ghastly  visitor 


PENNIES  AS  REVOLUTIONISTS.     021 

the  names,  "  see  to  't  tliat  eacli  and  all  of  these 
stretch  hemp  at  dawn  to-morrow  from  their  own 
sign-posts.  Cospetfo!  I  will  carry  justice  to  the 
doors  of  all."* 

Master  Carl  bowed  and  withdrew  to  make  ready 
for  this  impromptu  execution,  Don  Frederic  de 
Toledo  hurried  off  to  get  Yiglius  to  sign  the  death- 
warrants,  arousing  the  reluctant  doctor  at  midnight 
for  that  purpose.  At  dawn  the  soldiers  were  under 
arms,  the  hangman  stood  rope  in  hand ;  when  sud- 
denly a  courier  dashed  into  the  city,  and  reported 
the  caj)ture  of  Brille,  the  key-town  of  the  north,  by 
the  beggars  of  the  sea — an  announcement  which 
untied  the  knot  of  the  executioner,  and  postponed 
the  duke's  matutinal  tragedy.f 

*  Bor.,  torn.  G,  p.  2G1.     Brandt,  ut  antea. 

t  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  70.      Vide  Meteren,  torn.  4,  folio  70,  and 
Hoofd,  torn.  C,  p.  216. 


622  THE   DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

CHAPTEE  XXXiy. 

THE  KISING. 

In  the  year  1572,  William  de  Lumey,  Count  de 
la  Marck,  wlio,  since  the  death  of  his  pot  companion 
Brederode,  had  been  chief  of  the  roysterers — an 
untamed,  ferocious  corsair,  equally  at  home  in  the 
saddle  and  on  the  quarter-deck,  according  to  an 
ancient  Batavian  custom  wearing  his  hair  and 
beard  unshorn  until  the  death  of  his  cousin  Egmont 
should  be  avenged- — held  the  rank  of  admiral  in 
the  outlaw  navy  of  the  prince  of  Orange.t  Between 
the  count,  the  two  tenets  of  whose  creed  were  the 
flaying  of  priests  and  the  murder  of  Spaniards,  and 
the  prince,  there  could  be  little  sympathy;  but  De 
la  Marck  was  high  in  the  favor  of  the  privateers- 
men;  and  what  is  it  that  Gibbon  says?  "A  thrifty 
statesmanship  utilizes  all." 

The  worst  of  it  was,  that  the  buccaneer  admiral 
was  not  content  to  confine  his  depredations  to 
Spanish  commerce,  but  occasionally  varied  the 
monotony  of  such  privateering  by  a  pounce  upon 
friendly  or  neutral  vessels;  a  course  which  aliena- 
ted foreign  nations,  and  chilled  the  sympathy  of  the 
Netherlanders  themselves,  whose  trade  was  impe- 

■~-  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  58.      Meteren,  torn.  5,  folio  Ci.      Vander- 
vynckt,  torn.  2,  p.  127. 

t  Ibid.     Grotius,  Auu.,  lit).  2.  p.  49. 


THE  RISING.  623 

ded  by  these  piracies.*  Indeed,  so  much  offended 
were  the  maritime  powers,  that  even  Sweden  and 
Denmark  returned  a  rude  nay  to  WiUiam's  request 
that  his  ships  might  be  permitted  to  enter  their 
ports  to  victual  and  repair.!  Enghind  alone  opened 
her  harbors  to  the  buccaneers. 

Against  this  conduct  of  Great  Britain,  Alva  had 
long  protested.  In  the  winter  of  1572,  he  informed 
Elizabeth  that  her  continued  protection  of  the  pri- 
vateers would  be  construed  by  Philip  II.  into  a 
declaration  of  war.|  As  the  Netherland  trade  was 
of  great  importance  to  London,  and  as  the  money 
quarrel  between  herseh"  and  the  duke  was  ripening 
to  an  agreement,  the  queen  was  desirous  to  avoid 
open  hostilities  with  Spain.  Accordingly,  she  issued 
an  order  for  the  expulsion  of  the  corsairs  from  her 
ports.  § 

At  this  very  time  De  la  Marck  lay  in  the  straits 
of  Dover  with  a  fleet  of  twenty-six  sail,  manned  by 
six  hundred  mariners.il  Ejected  from  the  last  spot 
of  laud  in  Europe  where  he  might  set  foot,  he  yet 
hoisted  sail  with  seamanlike  nonchalance,  prepared 
to  scud  in  whatsoever  direction  the  wind  sliovdd 
waft  him.U  On  clearing  the  harbor,  he  descried  a 
convoy  of  Spanish  traders  steering  for  Antwerp. 
This  was  fair  game,  and  the  privateers  at  once  gave 

'■'■  Bor.,  torn.  5,  p.  289.  i 

t  Ibid.,  p.  334,  et  seq.     Hoofd,  torn.  G,  p.  210. 

%  Froude,  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  10,  p.  373,  et  seq. 

§  Ibid.,  p.  374.     Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  72. 

II  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  295.     Compare  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  351. 

^  Froude.  uhi  sup. 


624  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

chase,  tacldug  aucl  wearing  ship,  firing  and  halloo- 
ing up  the  channel.  Two  merchantmen  were  caught 
and  robbed  of  sixty  thousand  crowns,  the  crev.'S 
being  drowned'^ — all  in  true  corsair  st^de. 

After  a  few  days'  cruising,  the  squadron  got 
short  of  water  and  provisions;  whereupon  De  la 
Marck  decided  to  trim  his  course  for  North  Hol- 
land, land,  and  make  a  levy  on  the  burghers.  On 
the  1st  of  April,  1572,  he  dropped  anchor  in  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Meuse,  opposite  and  within  easy 
eyesight  of  the  town  of  Brille.t  "  Ah,  ha !  yonder 
are  the  beggars  of  the  sea,"  exclaimed  the  ferryman 
who  plied  between  Brille  and  the  neighbor  town  of 
Maaslandsluis,  on  sighting  the  fleet4  After  land- 
ing his  passengers,  he  rowed  boldly  into  the  offing 
to  speak  the  strangers,  being  himself  a  patriot. 
With  little  difficulty,  the  admiral  prevailed  upon 
this  boatman  to  bear  a  message  to  the  city  magis- 
trates demanding  a  conference.  Kowing  back  to 
Brille,  he  elbowed  aside  the  crowd  of  questioners 
who  met  him  at  the  landing,  and  hastening  to  the 
Stadt-house,  where  the  aldermen  were  gathered, 
informed  them  of  the  count's  demand.§  "  How 
many  men  do  the  privateers  carry?"  queried  the 
city  fathers.  "  Some  five  thousand  in  all,"  was  the 
cool  but  lying  answer.il  In  the  face  of  such  a  force 
resistance  was  not  to  be  thought  of.  But  in  order 
to  gain  time  for  flight,  two  envoys  were  sent  to  hold 

*  La  Mothe  Fenelon,  April  14,  1572.    Biptches,  vol.  4. 
f  Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  3G5,  et  seq.     Hoofd,  torn.  G,  p.  216,  et  seq. 
t  Ibid.  §  Hoofd,  torn.  6,  p.  218.  ||  Ibid. 


THE  RISING.  G25 

the  gueux  in  paiie3%  Meantime,  the  burghers  gath- 
ered up  their  vahiables  and  hurriedly  departed.* 

De  la  Marck  was  too  impatient  to  be  long  coz- 
ened; and  suspecting  treachery,  he  landed  the  major 
part  of  his  old  salts,  divided  them  into  two  parties, 
and  advanced  to  the  assault.  The  town  was  quick- 
ly taken — the  admiral  making  a  bonfire  of  one  gate, 
and  then  beating  down  the  charred  portal  with  a 
battering-ram  in  the  shape  of  an  old  mast.f 

Thus  extraordinarily  was  the  first  successful 
siege'of  the  patriots  conducted;  so  rude  were  the 
hands  which  laid  the  foundation-stone  of  the  Dutch 
Republic — for  this  seemingly  unimportant  event 
was  pregnant  with  just  that  result. 

Strangest  of  all,  it  was  an  unintentional  success. 
De  la  Marck  meant  merely  to  make  a  piratical  foray 
upon  Brille,  revictual,  plunder  the  churches,  and 
ship  the  ecclesiastical  furniture.'!  It  was  due  to 
the  long-headed  intelligence  of  the  Seigneur  de 
Treslong,  that  the  town  was  definitively  held  for 
Orange,  he  pointing  out  to  the  admiral  the  impor- 
tance of  the  place,  its  impregnability  by  land,  and 
the  advantages  certain  to  accrue  from  its  reten- 
tion.§ 

But  though  concluding  to  remain  in  Brille,  De 
la  Marck  was  not  to  be  stayed  from  an  assault  upon 
the  churches  of  the  place;  which  were  speedily  gut- 
ted, the  images  being  broken,  and  the  rich  ecclesi- 

«  Hoofd,  torn.  6,  p.  218.    Bor.,  torn.  C,  p.  3G6. 
t  Ibid.     Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  354. 

J  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  295.     Bor.,  uhi  sup.  §  Ibid. 

n.itHi  i:..f.  27 


626  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

astical  vestments  appropriated  by  the  spoilers, 
while  the  murder  of  thirteen  priests  who  had  ne- 
glected to  escaj^e,  crowned  the  saturn^dia* 

"No  es  Jidda,  no  es  nada' — "'tis  nothing,  a  mere 
nothing,"  said  Alva,  on  hearing  the  news.t  Never- 
theless, he  dismissed  unharmed  the  butchers  and 
grocers  of  Brussels,  of  whom  he  was  about  to  make 
an  example,  and  prepared  to  cope  with  the  beggars 
of  the  sea.  At  heart  the  duke  was  uneasy.  He 
knew  the  importance  of  the  captured  town — knew 
that  its  possession  supplied  the  gueux  with 'what 
they  especially  needed,  a  seaport  citadel.  He  was 
especially  chagrined  because  the  disaster  was  large- 
ly his  own  fault,  for  he  had  drained  off  the  seaboard 
garrisons,  and  stationed  a  host  of  men-at-arms  in 
Utrecht,  in  order  to  dragonnade  the  burghers  of 
that  province  into  assenting  to  the  taxes — a  meas- 
ure fraught  with  double  mischief,  though,  to  be 
sure,  he  had  considered  the  corsairs  to  be  fit  only 
to  war  upon  unarmed  merchantmen. 

However,  it  was  the  time  for  action,  not  for  un- 
availing regret.  "Brille  must  be  retaken,"  cried 
the  governor-general ;  and  straightway  Count  Bos- 
su,  who  had  acted  as  stadtholder  of  Holland  since 
William's  resignation,  was  despatched  to  perform 
the  work.:]:  Probably  Alva  thought  that,  after  all, 
it  would  merely  be  a  second  edition  of  the  De  Euy- 
ter  tragedy  at  the  castle  of  Lowenstein. 

'■'"  Meteren,  torn.  4,  folio  72.     Strada,  torn.  2,  j).  72. 

t  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  356. 

t  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  295.     Bor.,  Hoofd. 


THE  EISING.  G27 

At  the  head  of  ten  companies  of  veterans  gath- 
ered from  Utrecht,  Bossu  made  his  appearance  be- 
fore Brille  quite  as  soon  as  the  privateersmen  were 
ready  to  receive  him.*  Still,  a  daring  defiance  was 
returned  to  his  summons  to  surrender;  though  De 
la  Marck,  uncertain  of  the  citizens  and  greatly  over- 
matched, determined  to  stand  strictly  on  the  defen- 
sive.t 

Brille  lay  on  the  island  of  Voom,  just  on  the 
southern  lip  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mouse,  whose  nav- 
igation it  commanded,  and  the  Spaniards  crossed  to 
it  from  the  mainland  in  boats.  They  were  permit- 
ted to  land  unopposed;  but  scarcely  had  Bossu 
unlimbered  his  cannon,  when  an  artisan  of  Brille 
swam,  axe  in  hand,  to  the  sluice  of  the  Nieuland 
dyke,  split  it  in  pieces,  and  inundated  the  island.:]: 
At  the  same  time,  De  Treslong  and  Captain  Rabal 
fired  and  cut  adrift  the  vessels  in  which  their  foe- 
men  had  crossed  the  river.§ 

•  Appalled  by  the  sight  of  their  burning  boats, 
and  panic-struck  by  the  rapid  rise  of  the  water, 
Bossu's  veterans  broke  rank  and  fled  wildly  along 
the  bank  of  the  slippery  canal,  raked  at  every  step 
by  the  merciless  guns  of  the  gueux  vomiting  fire  and 
death  from  Brille.  Many  leaped  into  the  turbid 
river  and  were  drowned;  others  met  death  from  the 
cannon-shot;  hundreds  were  slain;  and  the  survi- 
vors took  their  route,  through  streams  and  marshes, 
over  I^ew  Beyerland  to  the  city  of  Dordrecht,  where 

'"■  Metereu,  Hoofd,  et  alii  i  Meteren. 

J  Hoofd,  torn,  fi,  p,  220.     Bor.,  torn.  0,  p.  3G7.  §  Ibid. 


628  THE  DUTCH  KEFORMATION. 

they  arrived  wet,  weary,   and  routed,  only  to  be 
denied  admittance  by  the  jubilant  burghers.* 

After  the  disappearance  of  the  last  of  his  assail- 
ants, the  admiral  repaired  to  the  market-place  of 
Brille,  assembled  the  townsfolk,  most  of  whom  had 
returned  on  the  subsidence  of  their  first  fear  of  the 
beggars  of  the  sea,  by  tap  of  drum,  registered  tlieir 
names,  made  all  swear  allegiance  to  the  prince  of 
Orange  as  King  Philip's  legal  stadtholder  of  Hol- 
land; and  pledged  all  to  defend  the  place  against 
Pu^Dpet  Bossu,  and  against  the  duke  of  Alva,  who 
pulled  the  string  which  set  others  dancing.f 

In  the  meantime,  Bossu,  shut  out  of  Dordrecht, 
hastened  on  to  Kotterdam  with  his  jaded  cohorts. 
Here,  too,  the  citizens  were  reluctant  to  open  their 
gates,  fearing  lest  tlieir  unwelcome  guests  should 
make  too  long  a  tarry,  or  attempt  to  collect  the 
tenth  and  twentieth  pennies,  thus  far  unpaid.^  Blit 
Bossu's  plight  was  so  miserable,  he  pleaded  so  hard, 
and  promised  so  stoutly  to  march  directly  through 
the  city,  that  the  magistrates  gave  a  reluctant  order 
for  the  admission  of  his  soldiers,  a  corporal's  guard 
at  a  time,  with  unloaded  muskets;  which  terms 
Bossu  signed  and  sealed.§ 

His  words,  however,  were  "  as  false  as  dicers' 
oaths;"  for  no  sooner  was  the  first  detachment 
within  the  gate,  than  assailing  and  mastering  the 

«'  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  295.     Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  72. 

t  Strada,  torn.  2,  pp.  72,  73.     Hoofd  and  Bor.,  ubi  sup. 

X  Bor.,  iihi  sup.,  p.  3G8.     Brandt,  uU  sup.     Hoofd,  Meteren. 

§  Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  308. 


THE  RISING.  G29 

burglier  guard,  they  admitted  the  whole  force.  Led 
on  by  Bossu  in  person,  the  brutal  soldiery  at  once 
spread  through  the  town,  robbing  the  traders,  vio- 
lating the  women,  massacring  the  burghers — four 
hundred  of  whom  were  quickly  murdered.* 

These  events,  the  capture  and  successful  defence 
of  Brille,  and  the  infamous  treachery  at  Rotterdam, 
were  like  sparks  dropped  in  a  powder-magazine — 
the  states,  previously  prepared,  exploded  with  a 
detonation  which  shook  Philip  at  Madrid.  Trea- 
son was  felt  to  be  a  lesser  crime  than  inhumanity. 
Even  in  Brussels,  the  wits  put  treason  into  puns. 
The  beggars  of  the  sea  had  snatched  Brille  on  All- 
Fools'  day,  and  as  Brille  is  the  Flemish  for  sjjeda- 
cles,  a  popular  couplet  was  at  once  struck  off: 

"  Ou  April  Fool's  day, 
Duke  Alva's  spectacles  were  stolen  away."t 

The  streets,  too,  were  placarded  with  a  caricature 
in  which  De  la  Marck  was  represented  stealing  the 
duke's  spectacles  from  off  his  nose,  he  all  the  time 
muttering  his  habitual  expression  when  any  thing 
went  wrong  :  "  No  es  nada,  no  cs  nada' — 'tis  noth- 
ing, 'tis  nothing.:]:  The  jest  was  made  the  keener 
by  the  fact  thai  the  Dutch  had  a  jeering  proverb, 
that  when  a  man  was  overreached,  he  was  specta- 
cled and  snaffled;  so  that  the  picture  was  supposed 
to  signify  that  Alva's  severity  was  now  bridled.§ 

«>  Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  3G8.     Hoofd,  torn.  6,  p.  220,  seq.     Meteren, 
torn.  6,  folio  m.  t  Vaudervynckt,  torn.  2,  p.  142. 

J  Ibid.     Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  72.  ^  Strada,  uhi  sup. 


630  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

At  stormy  crises,  an  after-dinner  speech  or  an 
epigram  will  precipitate  a  revolution.  Flushing,  a 
wealthy,  populous,  and  important  town  on  the  ex- 
treme south  point  of  the  island  of  Walcheren,  in  the 
Zealand  archipelago,  the  bulwark  of  the  sea,  was 
the  first  to  hoist  the  patriot  colors.*  The  place 
was  of  vital  consequence  to  Alva,  since  it  command- 
ed the  navigation  of  the  Scheldt,  as  Brille  did  that 
of  the  Meuse,  two  main  arteries  of  trade.  Charles 
V.  had  especially  advised  his  son  to  see  to  its  secu- 
rity; but  the  duke  had  drained  off  the  garrison  to 
reinforce  the  dragonnaders  of  Utrecht,  leaving  only 
eighty  superannuated  Walloons  to  guard  the  town.f 
These  were  quickly  put  hors  du  combat  by  the  patriot 
burghers,  who  thereupon  sent  off  to  England,  to 
France,  to  Orange,  and  to  Brille  for  succor. | 

Ignorant  of  what  had  occurred,  Alva  too  late 
bethought  him  to  look  to  the  safety  of  this  key  to 
the  Scheldt.  Ten  companies  of  men-at-arms  were 
embarked  for  Flushing,  and  Paciotti,  the  engineer, 
was  sent  post  across  the  country  to  complete  a  cit- 
adel already  in  process  of  erection.§  Meantime, 
De  Treslong  had  arrived  with  two  hundred  of  the 
beggars  of  the  sea,  volunteers  from  other  quarters 
had  manned  the  walls,  and  the  town  grinned  defi- 
ance as  the  belated  Spaniards  sailed  into  port. 
The  fleet  had  hardly  cast  anchor  when  the  artillery 

*  Strada,  torn,  2,  p.  72.     Boi-.j  torn.  6,  p.  369,  et  seq. 
t  Watson,  Life  of  Philip  II.,  p.  170. 
j  Bor.,  iiU  sup.,  p.  370.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  39G.     Hoofd. 
^  Hoofd,  torn.  G,  p.  222.     Bor.,  uU  sup.,  p.  3GD. 


THE  RISING.  C31 

belched  forth  its  warning.  Surprised  at  their  recep- 
tion and  ignorant  of  the  number  of  the  insurgents, 
the  invaders  were  panic-struck,  and  sKpping  their 
cables,  stood  away  in  disorderly  flight  for  Middle- 
burg,  the  twin  of  Flushing.*  A  few  days  later,  Pa- 
ciotti,  unaware  of  what  had  passed,  and  supposing 
the  Spaniards  to  be  in  possession,  entered  the  town. 
He  was  seized  within  an  hour  after  his  incoming, 
and  hung  by  Treslong,  who  thus  avenged  his  brother, 
beheaded  by  Alva  in  1558,  and  secured  the  place  to 
Orange  by  making  the  burghers  participants  in  a 
deed  which  all  knew  the  duke  would  never  for- 
give.t 

Thus  passed  the  month  of  April,  1572.  Early 
in  May,  Orange  sent  Jerome  von  't  Zeraerts  to 
Flushing  with  a  commission  as  lieutenant-governor 
of  the  island  of  Walcheren.|  At  the  same  time  port 
after  port  throughout  Holland,  Zealand,  Utrecht, 
and  Overyssel  rose,  expelled,  or  slew  the  Spaniards, 
and  declared  for  stadtholder  William.  On  the  4th  of 
May,  the  fishermen  of  Terveer,  in  Zealand,  hung  out 
De  la  March's  banner§ — a  scarlet  field  crossed  with 
ten  gold  pieces,  symbolical  of  the  hated  tax.ll  Soon 
afterwards  Enkhuyzen,  a  chief  commercial  port  of 
Holland — the  Spanish  arsenal  on  the  Zuyder  Zee — * 
placed  its  name  on  the  bead-roll  of  revolted  cities.lT 

'^  Hoofd,  torn.  6,  p.  222.     Bor.,  ubi  sup.,  p.  369.   ■ 
t  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  72.    Hoofd,  torn.  6,  p.  225.     Bor.,  Men- 
doza,  et  alii.  J  Bor.,  ubi  sup.,  p.  371. 

§  Ibid.     Braudt,  vol.  1,  p.  296. 
II  Strada,  ubi  sup.,  i>.  71. 
^  Bor.,  ubi  sup.    Braudt,  ubi  sup. 


632  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

Medenblik,  Horn,  Alkmaar,  Oudenwater,  Gouda,  fol- 
lowed in  the  footsteps  of  Enklmyzen.*  When  Gouda 
threw  off  its  shackles,  one  of  the  burgomasters,  long 
a  satellite  of  the  blood-judges,  ran  in  a  panic  to  the 
house  of  a  patriot  widow,  and  begged  her  to  conceal 
him.  He  was  huddled  into  a  cupboard.  "Am  I 
safe  here  ?"  asked  he.  "  Aye,  truly.  Master  Burgo- 
master," replied  the  widow,  "  for  my  husband  used 
often  to  hide  in  it  from  you,  when  you  and  others 
sought  for  him,  and  the  keeper  of  the  prison  hath 
often  stood  there  before  him."t 

The  news  of  this  rising  in  Holland  made  all 
Protestant  Great  Britain  smile  and  rub  its  hands. 
The  excitement  in  London  was  uncontrollable.  A 
flood  of  money  poured  out  of  the  reformed  churches, 
and  streamed  across  the  Channel  in  the  shape  of 
powder  and  guns.J  The  resident  exiles  at  once  set 
out  for  home,  accompanied  by  hundreds  of  English 
volunteers.  In  Parliament,  the  rising  Puritans 
clamored  for  the  expulsion  of  the  Sj)aniards  from 
the  states,  and  their  cry  was  echoed  by  the  author- 
itative chorus  of  the  bench  of  bishops,  who  called 
upon  Elizabeth  to  declare  war  and  complete  the 
work.§ 

In  the  maiden  flush  of  their  triumph,  the  patri- 
ots reenacted  some  of  the  scenes  of  the  iconoma- 
chy ;  for  they  esteemed  popery  to  be  to  Alva  what 
the  atmosphere  is  to  human  lungs,  the  medium  of 

*  Bor.,  uhisiip.,  Brandt,  uhisiqy.,  Mondozu,  Cabrera. 

t  Brandt,  idii  sup.  %  Froude,  Hist.  Eng.,  vol.  10,  p.  376. 

§  Fronde,  ut  antea. 


THE  RISING.  t>o8 

life.  Images  "were  once  more  clemolisliecl,  altars 
were  again  defaced,  monks  were  everywhere  ac- 
counted a  legitimate  prey.*  'T  is  a  sad  and  bloody 
chapter  ;  but  who  set  the  example  ?  Tyranny  sours 
the  oppressor  more  than  the  ojDpressed.  Do  what 
they  would,  not  the  harshest  of  the  giieux,  not  De 
la  Marck  himself  could  match  the  atrocious  cruel- 
ties of  the  blood-judges. 

The  burghers  of  Dort,  on  wheeling  into  the 
ranks  of  the  revolt,  made  a  stipidation  honorable 
alike  to  their  heads  and  their  hearts,  and  especially 
remarkable  at  that  passionate  era.  The  agreement 
was,  that  they  might  observe  their  allegiance  to 
Philip  as  count  of  Holland;  that  they  might  be 
secured  in  the  possession  of  all  rights  and  fran- 
chises; that  all  degrees  and  conditions  of  men, 
whether  spiritual  or  temporal,  all  monks,  nuns, 
magistrates,  officials,  should  continue  in  the  exer- 
cise of  their  functions  free  and  unmolested;  that 
all  goods  and  estates  of  the  ecclesiastical  and  civil 
spheres  should  be  protected ;  and  that  the  churches 
of  all  sects  should  be  left  unharmed.f  But  even  in 
Dort  the  will  was  better  than  the  deed;  for  the 
monastery  of  the  Augustine  friars  was  soon  sacked, 
while  the  troopers  stabled  their  horses  in  the  nun- 
nery of  the  Beguines.J 

In  all  the  emancipated  towns  new  municipal 
boards,  in  sympathy  with  the  revolution,  were  cho- 
eeu  by  popular  vote,  and  sworn  to  obey  Philip  as 

*  Brandt,  vol.  1,  pp.  29G,  297. 

t  Ibid.,  p.  297.  i  Ibid. 

27* 


G34  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

count  or  lord  paramount,  and  Orange  as  his  stadt- 
holder — to  protect  the  needy  and  to  judge  righteous 
judgment.*  Thus  the  ballot  supplemented  and 
finely  guaranteed  the  rising — gave  dignity  to  pas- 
sion, and  permanence  to  what  might  else  have  been 
an  ephemeral  outbreak. 

On  the  2d  of  June,  1572,  William's  deputy,  Died- 
rich  Sonoy,  entered  HoUandif  The  prince,  still 
retaining  the  fiction  of  obedience  to  Philip,  reas- 
sumed  his  stadtholderate,  and  opposed  to  Alva's 
authority  that  of  his  concurrent  master,  recreated 
by  construction  into  an  ally  of  the  beggars  of  the 
sea ;  and  this  legal  fable  was  stoutly  held — formed, 
indeed,  .the  basis  of  the  provisional  government 
until  the  provinces  declared  their  independance  at 
a  later  day.| 

The  tolerant  wisdom  of  the  liberator  is  most 
clearly  seen  in  the  glass  of  his  instructions  to  Sonoy. 
"  First  of  all,"  said  he,  "  use  your  utmost  power  to 
deliver  the  lieges  of  Holland  from  Spanish  servi- 
tude, restoring  always  the  ancient  charters.  Take 
care,  farther,  that  the  word  of  God  be  freely  preach- 
ed within  our  lines,  and  that  the  religion  conforma- 
ble to  that  word  be  tolerated  and  published  if  so  be 
any,  the  meanest,  would  have  it  so.  Yet  by  no 
means  suffer  the  Eomanists  to  be  prejudiced  for 
their  faith's  sake ;  secure  them  freely  in  their  wor- 
ship, nor  withdraw  your  protection  from  them,  un- 
less the  public  safety  warrants,  and  when  so  directed 

-"Bor.,  torn.  G,  p.  375.  t  I'^i'^- 

X  Motlcj',  vol.  2,  p.  3GS. 


THE  EISING.  635 

by  me,  "with  the  consent  of  the  local  authorities."* 
Such  was  Protestantism's  initial  policy. 

Thus  at  last,  on  that  bleak  isthmus,  the  vivifying 
light  of  freedom  dawned,  to  stream  for  many  years 
upon  struggling  and  yet  half-expiring  humanity  in 
Europe.  The  immediate  cause  of  the  beneficent 
revolt  seemed  scarcely  adequate  to  the  result. 
"  Many  times,"  says  Strada,  "  did  William  cast  the 
dice  in  the  hope  to  win  a  commonwealth,  yet  never 
with  success  until  the  occasion  of  the  tribute."f 
And  the  bishop  of  Namiir  wrote  Margaret  of  Parma : 
"  The  tenth  and  twentieth  pennies  are  the  price  with 
which  the  prince  of  Orange  hath  purchased  the 
maritime  provinces."!  Neither  the  Jesuit  nor  the 
prelate  remembered  that  the  taxes  were  but  the 
nurse  of  the  infant  commonwealth.  Its  mother  was 
the  Keformation,  its  father,  God. 

*  Bor.,  iibi  sup.,  et  seq.     Braudt,  vol.  1,  p.  298. 

t  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  71.  J  Ibid.,  p.  73. 


636  THE  DUTCH  EEFOBMATION. 

CHAPTEE   XXXV. 

TRIUMPHS  ON  THIS  SIDE   AND   ON  THAT. 

At  this  Lour,  when  the  finger  on  the  dial  of  the 
Netherland  clock  was  pointing  to  the  high  noon  of 
opportunity,  the  Nassaus  were  up  and  doing — Will- 
iam in  Germany,  focusing  coalitions,  collecting 
moneys,  enrolling  troops,  manipulating  the  revolted 
states,  dictator  of  the  insurrection  ;  Count  Louis  at 
the  court  of  France,  cementing  a  cordial  alliance 
Avith  Charles  IX.,  as  he  fondly  dreamed,  but  in  real- 
ity the  dupe  of  the  masked  plotters  of  St.  Barthol- 
omew. 

Paris  had  become  the  puzzle  of  Europe.  The 
politics  of  Catharine  de'  Medici  were  a  hieroglyph- 
ic of  which  the  astutest  diplomats  could  make 
no  sense,  read  it  which  way  they  would.  The 
queen-mother  seemed  playing  at  political  see-saw. 
At  one  moment  "  that  devilish  woman,"  as  Wal- 
singham,  the  English  ambassador  at  Paris,  styled 
her  in  his  correspondence  with  Cecil,*  courted  the 
Guises  and  coquetted  with  Philip ;  at  the  next,  she 
was  caressing  Coligny,  and  proclaiming  the  reestab- 
lishment  of  the  entente  cordiale.  We  understand  it 
all  now,  but  it  is  wisdom  after  the  event. 

Since  the  dawn  of  the  Keformation,  the  Protes- 
tants and  the  ultramontanists  had  been  at  deadly 
*  Froucle,  Hist.  Eng.,  vol.  10,  jip.  353,  354. 


TKIUMPHS  ON  BOTH  SIDES.  G37 

feud  in  France  :  those  agonizing  to  obtain  the  right 
legally  to  worship  God  ;  these  absolute  in  their  de- 
termination to  reclose  the  Bible  and  gag  the  Hu- 
guenots.* For  fifty  years  success  had  oscillated 
between  the  rival  camps  ;  though  when  the  Protes- 
tants had  been  triumphant,  the  perfidy  of  the  court 
had  always  robbed  them  of  the  fruits  of  victory.t 
Recently,  reform  had  seemed  at  its  last  gasp — quite 
as  death-stricken  in  France  as  in  the  Low  Coun- 
tries. Cond^  had  fallen  on  the  plains  of  Jarnac.| 
Coligny  had  been  frightfully  routed  at  Moncontour. 
Nevertheless,  the  unconquerable  soldier  was  again 
in  the  saddle  ere  the  lapse  of  half  a  twelvemonth — 
in  the  saddle,  and  complete  victor  at  Arnay-le-Duc.§ 
"'Tis  hopeless,"  said  Catharine;  "we  must  do  by 
artifice  what  it  is  impossible  to  achieve  by  means 
of  war."|i  A  peace  was  negotiated — or  what  had 
the  look  of  a  righteous  and  permanent  peace ;  for 
an  amnesty  buried  the  past,  religion  was  left  free, 
and  both  parties  were  declared  equal  before  thelaw.lT 
Christendom  laughed  at  these  terms.  The  quid 
mines  pronounced  them  a  mere  Medician  make- 
shift, certain  to  be  broken,  like  half-a-dozen  pre- 
vious treaties  of  a  kindred  scope,  when  they  had 
served  Catharine's  turn.  And  so  the  Huguenots 
believed.  In  consequence,  they  avoided  the  capital — 

«  Hist,  of  the  Huguenots,  chap.  10,  etseq.,  passim.      Americau 
■  Tract  Society,  New  York,  1866.  t  Il^i*!- 

t  Davila,  liv.  4,  p.  470.    La  Noue,  p.  659. 
^  De  Thou,  liv.  4G,  torn.  5,  p.  638,  d  seq. 
II  Davila,  liv.  5,  p.  578. 
^  Yie  de  Coligny,  p.  o83.    Hist,  of  the  Huguenots,  pp.  334,  335. 


638  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

tlie  queen  of  Navarre,  the  Bourbon  princes,  and 
Coligny  making  tlieir  headquarters  within  the  stout 
walls  of  Kochelle.* 

It  was  essential  to  the  success  of  the  court  plan, 
that  this  suspicion  should  be  disarmed,  that  these 
apprehensions  should  be  laid  asleepf  that  the  vic- 
tims should  be  coaxed  to  Paris.  Little  by  little, 
man  by  man,  by  a  series  of  master-strokes  worthy 
of  that  diplomacy  which  declared  that  "  the  science 
of  reigning  was  the  science  of  lying,"  the  crafty 
Florentine  succeeded  in  petting,  in  cajoling,  and  in 
marrying  the  Huguenots  into  confidence.f 

Indeed,  Catharine  schemed  so  cunningly  that 
Europe  at  large  was  hoodwinked.  ±\.  match  was 
pending  between  Elizabeth  and  the  due  d'Alenyon, 
which  Philip  regarded  as  indicative  of  the  domi- 
nance of  the  Protestant  interest  at  the  court  of 
France.:]:  Even  the  pope  was  duped;  and  the  pros- 
pect of  a  marriage  between  an  excommunicated 
heretic  and  a  son  of  holy  church  set  him  entreating 
and  threatening  by  turns ;  for  in  his  eyes  heresy 
was  the  only  crime,  the  recognition  of  St.  Peter's 
supremacy  the  single  virtue.  He  offered  to  make 
Charles  IX.  "  general  of  the  holy  league  against  the 
infidels"  and  "emperor  of  Constantinople,"  if  he 
would  break  off  the  marital  negotiations  with  Eliz- 
abeth ;   "  in  return  for  which,"  wrote  Sir  Thomas 

«  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  385.     De  Thou,  liv.  47. 
■j-  Hist,  of  the  HugueBots,  chap.  24,  p.  336,  passim. 
i  Froudo,  voh  10,  pp.  208,  353;  etc.    Vide  Cor.  de  Philippe  II., 
torn.  2.     Strada,  toio.  2,  p.  73. 


TEIUMPHS  ON  BOTH  SIDES.  G39 

Smith  to  Cecil,  "  Charles  ought  to  make  his  holi- 
ness caliph  of  Bagdad — summum  imitificcm  Bcibij- 
lonkc."* 

In  the  meantime,  the  Huguenots  were  in  high 
favor  at  Paris.  In  the  spring  of  1572,  the  Admiral, 
Jean  d'Albr6t,  Henrj  of  Navarre  whoso  nuptials 
were  to  be  the  herald  of  the  tragedy,  and  young 
Condd — the  elite  of  the  party,  were  in  town,  forming 
for  hajjpy  Catharine  that  collection  of  enemies' 
heads  on  a  single  neck  for  which  the  Eoman  tyrant 
sighed,  that  he  might  strike  off  all  at  one  blow. 

Cohgny  seemed  the  special  pet  of  the  whole 
court.  "There  are  no  Egmonts  in  France,"  was 
the  reply  which  the  prudent  chieftain  had  returned 
to  an  invitation  to  visit  Paris  a  httle  back.f  Now, 
however,  even  his  caution  had  been  cajoled,  and  he 
was  the  most  frequent  of  visitors  at  the  Louvre. 
But  the  great  soldier  had  a  purpose  :  he  was  bent 
upon  the  formation  of  an  aggressive  league  between 
England,  France,  and  the  Protestant  states  of  Ger- 
many against  Philip  II.,  and  in  aid  of  the  prince  of 
Orange  and  staggering  reform  upon  the  Continent. :|: 

Instigated  by  Catharine,  Charles  pretended  to 
come  into  all  these  plans.  "Philip,"  said  he,  "is 
the  hereditary  foeman  of  the  Yalois  dynasty,  the 
murderer  of  my  sister  Isabella ;  and  as  for  Alva, 
'tis  well  to  find  employment  for  him  and  for  the 
restless  spirits  in  our  own  dominions  at  the  same 
time,  by  sending  an  army  into  the  Low  Countries 

«-  Froiicle,  vol.  10,  p.  355.  f  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  73. 

t  De  Thou,  liv.  51,  torn.  G,  p.  312,  et  seq.   Davila,  Eauke,  d  nlli. 


640  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

to  assist  our  cousin  Orange :  and  you,  admiral, 
shall  lead  our  men-at-arms."* 

Coligny  at  once  began  recruiting.t  At  the  same 
time  he  introduced  his  friend  and  ally,  Louis  Nas- 
sau, to  the  king.  Charles  received  him  graciously, 
gave  him  repeated  audiences,  promised  to  furnish 
William  with  a  subsidy  of  two  hundred  thousand 
crowns,  granted  Louis  himself  permission  to  make 
an  unlimited  levy  of  troops  in  Frauce,J  and  plaj^ed 
his  part  to  such  perfection  that  madame  la  mere 
was  all  smiles  and  satisfaction. 

Count  Louis  was  in  ecstasies ;  Coligny  was  san- 
guine ;  Elizabeth's  envoy,  Walsingham,  did  his  ut- 
most to  forward  the  pending  international  mar- 
riage ;  and  the  sagacity  of  Orange  was  for  once  at 
fault,  for  he  too  believed  implicitly  in  the  good  faith 
of  the  Yalois  alliance — why  should  he  not,  since  his 
coreligionist,  the  admiral,  and  his  own  brother  were 
at  its  head  ? 

Both  Coligny  and  Nassau  considered  the  early 
possession  of  a  fortified  town  in  the  frontier  prov- 
inces essential  to  the  success  of  the  French  inva- 
sion of  the  Netherlands ;  essential  also  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  expedition  which  William  was  about  to 
set  afoot.  Such  a  stronghold  Count  Louis  under- 
took to  capture ;  and  Mons,  the  strong  and  popu- 
lous capital  of  Hainault,  was  the  place  on  which 
he  fixed  his  eje. 

'■■'  De  Thou,  liv.  51,  torn.  G,  p.  342,  et  seq.   Davila,  Kanke,  et  alii, 

f  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  73. 

X  Dc  Thou,  torn,  o,  liv.  50,  pp.  279,  280,  et  scq. 


TEIUMPHS  ON  BOTH  SIDES.  611 

With  tlie  couiiivance  of  Charles  IX.,  who  prom- 
ised him  succor  in  case  of  need,*  and  assisted  by 
La  Nou(5,  De  Genhs,  and  others  of  the  Huguenot 
chiefs,  Nassau  secretly  but  rapidly  enrolled  five 
hundred  light  dragoons  and  a  thousand  musketeers. 
Then,  leaving  his  allies  to  recruit  a  larger  force  to 
follow  him,  he  on  the  23d  of  May,  1572,  dashed 
across  the  confines  of  France  with  these  few  parti- 
sans, and  arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  Mons  in  the 
edge  of  the  evening.f  In  a  deej?  wood  just  at  hand 
they  bivouacked ;  while  a  dozen  of  the  shrewdest 
and  trustiest  of  the  band  pushed  boldly  into  the 
town,  disguised  as  wine  merchants,  for  the  purpose 
of  communicating  with  those  of  the  citizens  who 
were  patriots,  and  devising  some  plan  for  the  open- 
ing of  the  city  gates  to  their  comrades.  They  en- 
tered the  first  hostelry  they  reached ;  ordered  a 
good  supper ;  opened  a  chat  with  their  host ;  inquir- 
ed the  earliest  hour  at  which  the  portcullis  was 
lowered;  learned  that  the  port-warden  might  be 
bribed  to  unlock  it  at  almost  any  time;  informed 
the  landlord,  in  explanation  of  the  query,  that  they 
had  some  casks  of  wine  without  which  they  wished 
to  bring  into  town  bright  and  early;  paid  their 
reckoning;  chucked  the  pretty  barmaid  under  the 
chin,  and  went  their  way.:): 

A  few  hours  later,  they  went  to  the  port-warden, 
repeated  their  story,  persuaded  him  to  let  down  the 

o  Hoofd,  torn.  6,  p.  251.     Bor.,  torn.  (!,  p.  397. 

t  Metercn,  folio  71.    Hoofd,  ubi  sujy.,  p.  237. 

X  Beutivoglio,  lib.  G,  ]).  95,  d  scq.     Mcudoza,  torn.  5,  i^.  121. 


042  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

portcullis,  and  wlieii  tins  was  done  struck  tlie  poor 
wretch  dead ;  while  Count  Louis,  who  had  secreted 
fifty  horsemen  under  the  city  walls  in  preparation 
for  this  event,  galloped  madly  into  Mons,  shouting, 
"  Liberty  !  The  prince  is  coming !  Down  with 
Alva  !"* 

The  gallant  soldier  welluigh  lost  his  prize  ere  it 
was  secured.  On  quitting  the  bivouac  with  his  fifty 
troopers,  he  had  ordered  the  rest  of  the  band  to 
march  Mons-ward  with  all  speed ;  yet  it  was  now 
sunrise,  and  not  one  of  the  partisans  had  come  into 
town.  Two  or  three  score  of  men  might  surprise,  but 
could  not  hold  an  unwilling  city.  Already  the  hum 
of  angry  opposition  was  heard.  Fearful  of  disaster 
in  the  midst  of  success,  Nassau  rode  furiously  qut 
in  search  of  the  missing  men-at-arms.  He  found 
them  wandering  in  the  forests ;  but  quickly  conduct- 
ed them  out  of  the  labyrinth,  and  again  reached 
Mons,  just  as  the  burgher  guard  began  to  raise  the 
drawbridge.  A  Huguenot  cavalier,  Guitoy  de 
Chaumont,  with  ready  gallantry,  spurred  his  steed 
upon  it,  and  brought  it  to  the  ground ;  whereupon 
the  partisans  rode  into  town  with  wild  huzzas,  and 
Mons  was  won.f 

In  the  gray  of  the  morning  the  astonished  burgh- 
ers were  summoned  to  the  market-place  by  the  toll- 
ing of  the  great  bell.  Here  they  were  addressed  by 
De  Genlis  and  by  Count  Louis.     The  Huguenot 

*  Bentivoglio,  lib.  G,  p.  95,  et  seq.     Mendoza,   torn.  5,  p.  121. 
De  Thou,  torn.  6,  liv.  51,  p.  499. 

t  De  Thou,  Mendoza,  Bentivoglio,  id  aniea. 


TEIUMPHS  ON  BOTH  SIDES.  613 

assured  his  auditors  that  the  French  were  present 
not  as  conquerors,  but  as  alHes  of  the  prince.* 
Nassau  proclaimed  his  intention  to  be  to  hold  the 
town,  not  against  Philip  II.,  but  in  the  interest  of 
William  of  Orange,  and  to  secure  the  defeat  of 
Alva.t 

The  magistrates  looked  doubtful,  for  they  feared 
the  vengeance  of  the  governor-general,  and,  after 
the  custom  of  the  world,  held  it  better  to  be  knaves 
and  gain  by  it,  than  to  be  honest  graiis.  But  the 
citizens  were  enthusiastic — many  of  the  wealthiest 
of  the  manufacturers  offering  to  raise  and  equip 
citizen-companies  at  their  own  expense  for  the 
defence  of  the  place  against  the  inevitable  onset  of 
the  Spaniard.  I 

Meantime,  how  went  affairs  at  Brussels  ?  Re- 
cent events  had  taken  Alva  completely  by  surprise. 
He  had  been  petitioning  for  leave  to  retire  from  his 
government.  According  to  late  despatches  from 
Madrid,  his  successor  was  already  hastening  to 
relieve  him.  He  had  believed  rebellion  buried  in 
the  graves  of  Horn  and  Egmont,  smothered  in  the 
mud  at  Jemmingen,  dead  on  those  plains  which 
had  witnessed  the  discomfiture  of  Orange.  In  the 
citadel  at  Antwerp  loomed  the  statue  erected  by 
liimseK  to  himself  as  the  conqueror  and  pacificator 
of  the  Low  Countries.  And  now  the  Netherlands 
were  not  conquered ;  the  great  marts  of  trade  were 
nests  of  maddened  hornets  ;  the  maritime  provinces 

'•>  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  371.     Vide  Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  377. 

t  Ibid.  %  Motley,  uU  sup. 


644         THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

were  in  open  revolt ;  the  Huguenots,  led  by  Louis 
Nassau — at  that  very  moment  playing  at  tennis  in 
Paris,*  according  to  his  spies — were  in  a  stronghold 
within  half  a  day's  jaunt  of  his  capital.  The  news, 
too,  came  in  successive  shocks — that  from  the  north 
but  twenty-four  hours  earlier  than  that  from  the 
French  border.f  The  taking  of  Brille  had  some- 
what prepared  him  for  the  storm  from  the  sea ;  but 
the  land-wind  from  Mons  was  entirely  unexpected. :|: 
"  He  tore  his  beard  for  spite,"  saj^s  one  who  saAV 
and  spoke  to  him  at  the  time ;  "  he  seemed  to 
despair  that  things  would  any  more  succeed  as  they 
had  done."§  Against  Catharine  de'  Medici  the  duke 
was  especially  bitter.  "Aye,  aye,"  muttered  he, 
"  this  Florentine  has  played  me  false ;  but  't  will 
not  be  long  ere,  instead  of  Tuscan  lihes,  she  shall 
lie  on  Spanish  thorns."l! 

But  it  was  not  in  Alva's  nature  long  to  despond. 
Now,  after  the  first  bewilderment,  his  courage  rose 
with  the  occasion.  War — what  was  it  but  his  ele- 
ment? For  some  time,  however,  he  could  not 
decide  whether  to  begin  the  reconquest.  of  the 
states  in  Holland  or  in  Hainault.  Finally,  he  con- 
cluded to  lay  siege  to  Mons,  and  postpone  the 
northern  campaign,  because  Mons,  held  by  the 
Huguenots,  meant  the  key  of  the  frontier  in  foreign 
hands.     He  saw,  too,  that  the  city  might  be  easily 

*  Bentivoglio,  Bor.,  Hoofcl,  et  ul'd. 

t  Mendoza,  torn.  5,  p.  120  ;  torn.  6,  p.  122. 

X  Stradii,  torn.  2,  p.  73.  §  Vide  Fronde,  vol.  10,  p.  377. 

II  Metereu,  folio  71,  torn.  4.     Hoofd,  torn.  6,  p.  238. 


TRIUMPHS  ON  BOTH  SIDES.  645 

furnisliecl  with  supplies  either  by  Charles  IX.,  who 
seemed  now  actuall}^  bent  on  war  with  Spain,  or  by 
the  prince  of  Orange.  Delay  here  might  insure  the 
permanent  planting  of  the  foe  in  the  heart  of  the 
states — Holland  was  but  an  extremity." 

In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  he  left  the  revolted 
towns  to  enjoy  their  freedom  for  a  while,  drew  off 
the  garrisons  from  Rotterdam  and  Delft-haven,  and 
concentrated  his  scattered  legions  at  several  points 
contiguous  to  Mons,  retaining  his  hold  upon  but 
two  of  the  northern  cities,  both  places  of  strategic 
importance — Amsterdam,  the  commercial  capital  of 
Holland,  and  Middleburg,  on  the  island  of  Walchc- 
ren.t 

On  the  10th  of  June,  1572,  while  Alva  was  busy 
in  these  preparations  for  the  siege  of  Mons,  his  suc- 
cessor, the  duke  of  Medina  Coeli,  sailed  into  the 
mouth  of  the  Scheldt.]:  He  brought  with  him  a  fleet 
of  forty  sail,  twenty-five  hundred  fresh  veterans,  and 
countless  chests  of  bullion. §  When  he  embarked, 
the  news  of  the  revolt  had  not  reached  Spain  ;  he 
was  therefore  wholly  unsuspicious  of  the  changed 
face  of  affairs.  The  squadron  drifted  gayly  up  the 
river,  passing  directly  under  the  guns  of  Flushing, 
when,  in  an  instant,  a  terrific  broadside  from  the 
town  sunk  half  the  fleet.li  Then,  with  a  frightful 
yell,  the  beggars  of  the  sea  pounced  on  their  vic- 

*'-  Watson,  p.  182,  seq. 

t  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  299.     Bor.,  HooM. 

X  Meteren,  torn.  4,  folio  G5.     Mencloza,  torn.  G,  p.  127,  seq. 

§  Ibid.  II  Ibid. 


646  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

tims,  seized  half  a  million  crowns  in  gold  and  jew- 
els, and  took  a  thousand  prisoners,*  all  of  whom 
were  drowned,,  in  order  to  force  Alva  to  a  more 
humane  mode  of  warfare,  since  he  was  wont  to 
hang  whatever  patriots  fell  into  his  clutches,  t 

From  this  wholesale  slaughter,  Medina  Cceli 
managed  to  escape ;  but  he  entered  Brussels,  a  few 
days  afterwards,  with  much  less  ceremony  than  he 
had  expected.:]:  Of  course,  a  transfer  of  the  gov- 
ernment at  such  an  hour  was  not  to  be  thought  of, 
esj)ecially  on  the  heels  of  this  disaster.  The  new 
governor  suspended  his  commission  by  his  own  act, 
and  wrote  to  request  Philip  to  sign  his  immediate 
recall,  offering,  meanwhile,  to  serve  in  any  capacity 
under  his  highness  of  Alva.  "  Nay,"  retorted  the 
duke,  "  you  shall  be  treated  like  myself."§  But 
this  show  of  courtesy  was  all  ex  officio.  'T  was  not 
long  before  the  two  began  to  backbite  and  curse 
each  other  like  a  couple  of  pickpockets.  And  when, 
a  few  months  later,  the  king  gave  Medina  Coeli  leave 
to  retire,  he  left  Brussels  without  so  much  as  giving 
Alva  an  empty  good-nigJd.W 

Alva  was  just  now  so  hard  pressed  that  he  held 
out  the  olive-branch  to  the  insurgent  provinces. 
On  the  24th  of  June,  1572,  he  summoned  the  estates 
of  Holland  to  meet  on  the  15th  of  July  at  the  Hague, 
appending  to  the  call  a  formal  agreement  to  abol- 

*  Meteren,  torn.  4,  folio  G5.  Mendoza,  torn.  6,  p.  127,  seq. 
Hoofd,  torn.  6,  p.  239,  seq.  \  Ibid. 

J  Meteren,  xibi  siip.,  folio  GG.  Ai'chives  de  la  Maison  d'Orange- 
Nassaii,  torn.  3,  p.  440. 

§  Motcrcn,  torn.  4,  folio  71.     Bor.,  6,  p.  393.  |!  Ibid. 


TEIUMPHS  ON   BOTH   SIDES.  047 

isli  tlio  obnoxious  pennies,  provided  the  Nether- 
lands would,  vote  him  an  annual  supply  of  two  mill- 
ions of  florins.* 

This  was,  in  the  duke,  an  act  of  extraordinary 
complacence;  but  it  came  too  late.  The  estates 
did. indeed  assemble,  but  in  obedience  to  a  request 
from  Orange,  not  from  Alva,  and  at  Dort,  not  at 
the  Hague.f  As  the  obedience  and  the  place  were 
different,  so  also  was  the  purpose  of  the  deputies. 
They  met  in  the  interest  of  William,  and  to  declare 
Alva  the  enemy  of  the  common  weal.  The  prince 
was  proclaimed  stadthokler  of  Holland,  Zealand, 
and  Friesland,  legally  appointed  by  Philip  II.  of 
Spain,  and  count  of  Holland;  and  never  removed 
by  any  competent  authority.  The  duke  was  de- 
nounced as  a  usurper  in  the  states,  as  a  traitor  to 
the  king  at  Madrid.:|;  And  whilb  Wilham's  repre- 
sentative, St,  Aldegonde,  appeared  before  the  con- 
gress and  appealed  for  funds,  exclaiming,  "  Arouse 
ye,  awaken  your  OAvn  zeal  and  that  of  your  sister 
cities ;  seize  Opportunity  by  the  locks,  for  she  never 
looked  fairer  than  she  does  to-day,"§  the  enthusi- 
asm was  unbounded.  Two  hundred  thousand  guil- 
ders were  voted  on  the  instant  to  meet  the  expenses 
of  the  pending  contest,  and  five  hundred  thousand 
more  were  granted  to  defray  the  cost  of  the  prince's 
projected  expedition  into  the  middle  states,||  "Tru- 
ly," wrote  Alva  to  the  king,  on  hearing  of  this  action, 

•~-  Bor.,  ubi  sup.,  p.  378,  et  seq.     Hoofd,  torn.  G,  p.  242. 

t  Ibid.  X  Ibid.  §  Hoofd,  torn.  7,  p.  248,  et  seq. 

II  Tbid.,  p.  350.    Eor.,  torn,  fi,  p.  388. 


648  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION.    • 

"  it  drives  me  mad  to  see  the  difficulty  with  which 
your  majesty  is  furnished  with  supplies,  and  the  lib- 
erality with  which  these  folk  place  their  fortunes, 
yea,  their  lives,  at  the  disposal  of  this  rebel.' * 

"As  to  religion,"  said  St,  Aldegonde  in  one  of 
his  speeches  at  the  Dort  congress,  "the  desire  of 
the  prince  is,  that  liberty  of  conscience  be  allowed 
alike  to  the  Romanists  and  to  those  of  the  evangel- 
ical faith ;  and  that  each  j)arty  be  permitted  to 
enjoy  its  churches  and  properties  secure  under  an 
equal  law,  provided  no  disaflfection  to  the  new  regime 
be  shown. "t  And  this  too  was  freely  voted  by  the 
congress.:|: 

At  the  same  time,  De  la  Marck  was  confirmed 
as  admiral  on  appearing  before  the  deputies  and 
exhibiting  William's  commission.  But  he  was  espe- 
cially instructed  "*to  protect  the  papists  and  their 
clergy  in  future,  and  to  guarantee  them  in  the  free 
exercise  of  their  worship,  under  pain  of  death  to 
their  disturbers  "§ — instructions  which  ho  swore  to 
observe,||  while  meaning  all  the  time  to  nullify  them 
in  his  own  conduct,  for  which  he  was  one  day  to  be 
drummed  out  of  the  Dutch  service. 

In  all  these  doings  the  deputies  were  careful  to 
retain  Philip's  name,  as  if  he  were  the  inspiration 
and  the  end  of  all — a  necessary  fiction  until  the 
states  grew  to  the  stature  of  a  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence.     The    make-believe   was    like   a   baby 

■~  Corresp.  de  Philii^pe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  1198. 

t  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  298.     Bor..  uhl  sup. 

X  Ibid.  §  Ibid.  II  Ibid. 


TKIUMPHS  ON  BOTH  SIDES.  G19 

creeping  before  it  walks.  Nevertheless,  the  estates 
clothed  the  prince  with  powers  commensurate  with 
those  of  a  Eoman  dictator* — a  pregnant  fact  be- 
hind the  fable.  The  only  agreement  exacted  from 
him  was  the  mutual  pledge  that  neither  would  treat 
"vvith  the  king  without  the  full  assent  and  coopera- 
tion of  the  other.t  Indeed,  William  himself  es- 
teemed his  powers  too  large,  and  he  imposed  limits 
upon  his  own  authority  in  an  act  supplementary  to 
the  proceedings  of  the  congress  of  Dort| — one  of  the 
few  instances  in  history  of  a  self-abnegating  states- 
manship. 

Having  thus  taken  counsel  together  and  deter- 
mined what  to  do,  the  deputies  adjourned.  The 
people  received  them  with  open  arms.  The  moneys 
they  had  voted  seemed  about  to  be  raised  by  spon- 
taneous contributions.  The  clergy  opened  their 
purse-strings.  The  mechanic  guilds  voluntarily 
taxed  themselves.  The  women  stripped  off  their 
costliest  jewels  and  sacrificed  their  daintiest  luxu- 
ries. Old  families  melted  down  their  plate.  All 
appeared  to  be  determined,  rather  than  pay  the 
tenth  to  Alva,  to  give  William  the  wliole.§ 

While  these  events  were  transpiring  in  the  north, 
the  duke  was  pressing  the  siege  of  Mons.  Frederic 
de  Toledo  and  Chiappino  Yitelli,  with  five  thousand 
men,  had  been  sent  some  time  before  to  begin  the 
investment  ;||  and  Alva  himself  lingered  but  to  col- 

*  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  381.  f  I^itl.     Bor.,  torn.  G,  p.  388. 

X  Motley,  uhi  sup.  §  Grotius,  Mem.,  torn.  2,  p.  58. 

II  Meteren,  torn.  4,  folios  71,  72.     Bor.,  vhl  sup.,  p.  38^^. 
D„(  I,  i>r.  28 


650  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION, 

lect  large  reinforcements  before  following  them  to 
the  camp.* 

Count  Louis  was  in  excellent  spirits.  Within 
three  days  after  the  surprise  of  Mons,  two  thousand 
foot  had  joined  him,  and  ere  the  end  of  Ma}^  twenty- 
five  hundred  volunteers  more  were  at  his  side  ;t  ied 
too  b}^  the  famous  Montgomery,  whose  stout  lance 
had  unhorsed  and  unwittingly  slain  Kiug  Henry  II., 
some  thirteen  years  before,  at  the  Paris  tourna- 
ment. Farther  reinforcements  too  were  hastening 
up,  and  De  Genlis  had  already  posted  off  to  Paris 
to  conduct  to  Mons  those  confederates  whom 
Charles  IX.  had  promised,  and  Coligny  was  enlist- 
ing along  the  border.:]:  As  for  funds,  Nassau  was 
in  no  pressing  want,  having  seized  and  confiscated 
large  quantities  of  plate  and  jewelry  and  precious 
trinkets,  which  the  neighboring  ecclesiastics  had 
sent  into  town  for  safe-keeping  in  these  troublous 
times,  just  previous  to  the  incoming  of  the  spoiler.§ 

Don  Frederic,  therefore,  found  no  cowed  oj^po- 
nent,  no  unknightly  foe,  on  pitching  his  camp  be- 
neath the  walls  of  Mons,  the  Huguenots  conceiving 
it  a  punctilio  of  honor  to  give  the  Sj)auiards  proof 
of  their  valor  before  permitting  themselves  to  be 
cooped  up  W'ithiu  the  beleagured  works.  Every 
thing  the  assailants  got  was  paid  for  in  the  cur- 
rency of  good  hard  blows;  nor  did  Don  Frederic 

-  Meteren,  torn.  4,  folios  71,  72.     Bor.,  ?(&j  siq?.,  p.  38i. 
t  Hoofd,  torn.  6,  p.  238. 

X  Ibid.,  p.  251.    Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  397.     Strada,  torn.  2.  p.  79. 
^  Bor.,  uU  sup.,  p.  378.      Mendoza,  torn.  5,  p.  120,  et  seq., 
el  alii. 


TEIUMPHS  ON  BOTH  SIDES.  051 

succeed  in  planting  his  banner  in  the  belfrj  of  the 
Bethlehem  cloister — a  strategic  point  quite  beneath 
the  bastions  of  the  city — until  two  assaults  had 
given  Count  Louis  a  largess.  -  ^ 

Meantime,  De  Genlis,  having  made  his  levies 
with  all  haste,  was  on  the  march.  Eumor  gave  him 
a  force  ten  thousand  strong ;  but  fact,  more  prosaic, 
reduced  the  nuniber  to  thirty-two  hundred  foot 
and  a  thousand  horse.t  Both  Coligny  and  Nassau 
instructed  him  to  use  the  utmost  caution  in  his 
advance,  and  by  no  means  to  attempt  to  throw 
reinforcements  into  Mons  until  he  had  effected  a. 
junction  with  Orange,  then  about  to  cross  the 
Khine.t 

In  the  teeth  of  this  warning,  the  vain  and  over- 
confident cavalier,  impatient  of  delay,  and  jealous 
of  a  partner  who  must  share,  if  he  did  not  monopo- 
lize, the  honor  of  delivering  the  besieged,  deter- 
mined to  force  an  immediate  passage  through  the 
Spanish  ranks. §  Toledo  and  Yitelli  were  nothing 
loath  to  fight — nay,  they  met  De  Genlis  on  a  circu- 
lar plain,  girt  with  coppices  and  forests,  and  dotted 
with  farm-houses,  at  some  distance  from  the  gates 
of  Mons;ll  and  charging  with  fiery  valor,  surprised 
and  routed  the  Huguenots  almost  as  soon  as  their 
presence  was  discovered.^  In  this  dashing  affair, 
the   Spaniards   lost   but   thirty   men,  the   French 

ss  Strada,  uhi  siqx,  p.  74.  f  I>e  Thou,  lib.  54,  cap.  !). 

J  Ibid.     Bentivoglio,  torn.  5,  p.  102. 

§  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  74.     Bentivoglio  and  De  Thou,  ut  antea. 

il  Ibid.     Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  383. 

IT  Strada,  uhi  sup.    Bentivoglio,  uhi  sup.    Hoofd,  torn.  6,  p.  2.51. 


'o52  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

twelve  huudred  slain  outriglit,  besides  as  mauy 
more  murdered  by  the  unfriendly  peasants  of  the  ^ 
vicinage."  De  Genlis  himself  was  taken,  sent  to 
the  citadel  of  Ant\\erp,  and,  some  months  later, 
secretly  strangled  by  the  duke  of  Alva,  who  gave 
out  that  his  victim  died  a  natural  death. t 

Don  Frederic,  whose  name  greAV  famous  from 
this  field,  returned  to  camp  with  ^ying  colors,  spent 
the  day  in  warlike  pomp,  and  gave  public  thanks  to 
St.  Leucadia,  patroness  of  Alva's  house. |  The 
duke  himself  was  as  elated  as  his  son ;  and,  as 
haughty  in  ostentation  as  in  action,  he  despatched 
a  special  courier  to  congratulate  his  majesty  upon 
the  victory,  that  both  Philip's  ears  and  Spain  might 
be  filled  with  the  good  news.§ 

On  the  27th  of  August,  a  few  days  after  De 
Genlis'  rout,  Alva  arrived  in  the  camp  of  the  be- 
siegers, bringing  with  him  ten  thousand  five  hun- 
dred cavalry  and  eleven  new-raised  regiments  of 
German  infantryll — a  formidable  array.  The  wily 
soldier  was  well  aware  that  Count  Louis  looked  for 
succor  both  from  Coliguy  and  the  prince.  His  first 
care,  therefore,  was  so  to  fortify  himself  that  his 
position  should  be  equally  impregnable  against 
Nassau's  sallies  and  exterior  assailants;  and  this 
task  he  accomplished  with  admirable  skill.ll     Then 

■■'  Strada.  ubl  sup.  Beutivoglio,  uU  sup.  Hoofd,  torn.  G,  p. 
251.     Mendoza,  torn.  6,  p.  139. 

t  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II..  torn.  2,  p.  1283. 

t  Strada,  uU  sup.  §  I^id. 

II  ilendoza,  Davies.     Hist,  of  Holland,  vol.  1,  p.  588. 

^  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  76.     Meudoza. 


TRIUMPHS  ON  BOTH  SIDES.  653 

he  began  to  press  tlie  siege,  erecting  new  batteries, 
mining,  assaulting,  harassing — putting  in  practice 
all  the  arts  then  known  to  war,  in  which  he  was  the 
most  thorough  and  pedantic  professor  since  the 
days  of  Demetrius  Poliarcetes,  besieger  of  cities. 

The  defenders  of  Mons  met  these  efforts  with 
equal  vigor  and  with  answering  prudence.  Count 
Louis  seemed  endowed  with  prescience,  and  his 
indefatigable  activity  was  ably  seconded  by  La 
Noue,  bras  defer,  a  brilliant  Huguenot,  who  had 
won  his  fame  in  the  civil  wars  of  France.* 

But  what  added  tenfold  energy  to  the  defence 
was  a  rumor  that  the  prince  of  Orange  was  advan- 
cing to  the  rescue.  It  was  indeed  so.  William, 
after  four  years  of  weary  and  embarrassed  waiting, 
had  at  last  succeeded  in  recruiting  another  army, 
and  he  was  now  again  to  enter  the  arena  for  God 
and  libert}'. 

Early  in  July,  1572,  he  passed  the  Rhine  with 
fourteen  thousand  foot  and  seven  thousand  horse, 
Germans,  and  three  thousand  Netherlanders.t  On 
the  23d  of  July,  he  stormed  the  city  of  Euremonde ; 
whereupon  the  mercenaries  fell  to  plundering  the 
citizens  and  murdering  the  monks.^  William  was 
incensed  by  this  deed,  but,  unhappily,  he  was  so 
deeply  in  debt  to  the  army  as  to  be  unable  sharply 
to  curb  the  offenders.  His  poverty  killed  discipline. 
Nevertheless,  he  exhibited  his  wish  by  issuing  a 

*  Mendoza,  Watsou,  ei  aUi. 

f  Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  398.     Oompare  Strada,  uhi  sup.,  p.  78. 

i  Hoofd,  torn.  7,  p.  259,  et  seq.    Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  299. 


654:  THE  DUTCH  KEFORMATION. 

jDlacarcl  forbidding  the  ill-treatment  of  ecclesias- 
tics and  decreeing  tlie  toleration  of  all  sects.* 

Mark  the  contrast.  The  hirelings  on  both  sides 
were  equally  unprincipled,  fought  alike  for  what 
they  could  get  in  the  martial  market — as  foreigners 
in  an  indifferent  quarrel.  Stabbers  by  trade,  they 
were  alwa3's  panting  to  <3ry  havoc.  Yet  William 
strained  his  authority  to  check  license,  protecting 
even  the  arch-heresy  of  Rome;  while  Alva  just  as 
sedulously  strove  to  make  his  barbarians  more  bar- 
barous, commanding  them  to  call  rape  to  the  aid  of 
robbery,  and  murder  to  the  aid  of  rape.f 

It  was  at  Kuremonde  that  the  prince  was  inter- 
cepted by  the  deputies  who  brought  him  the  sup- 
plies voted  by  the  congress  of  DortJ — very  welcome 
moneys,  for  the  mercenaries  were  already  demand- 
ing their  pay,  refusing  to  budge  until  they  got  it.§ 
It  was  late  in  August  when  "William  passed  through 
Buremonde  en  route  to  Mons.  He  advanced  with 
jubilant  step.  Never  had  the  horizon  looked  so 
bright.  Holland  was  in  open  revolt ;  England  was 
a  siih  rosa  ally;  the  Belgic  provinces  were  at  least 
not  hostile,  willing  to  side  with  the  victor;  France 
had  pronounced  in  his  favor;  Coligny  only  awaited 
the  consummation  of  Navarre's  marriage  with  Mar- 
garet  de  Valois  to  take  the  field — in  such  a  sky 
who  could  see  a  cloud  ? 

Alas,  William,  "  some  trust  in  chariots  and  some 

S'  Hoofd,  torn.  7,  259,  d  seq.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  299.     Bor., 
torn.  G,  p.  399.  t  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  385. 

t  Brindt,  vol.  1,  p.  299.     Bor.  §  Motley,  uhl  sup.,  p:  386. 


TKIUMPHS  ON  BOTH  SIDES.  655 

in  liorses;"  "now  on  whom  dost  thou  trust  ?"*  For 
a  moment  the  statesman-soldier  did  not  rely  on 
God — God,  more  certain  than  Elizabeth,  truer  than 
false  France. 

As  he  trod  on,  the  way  seemed  smooth.  Nev- 
elle,  Diest,  Sichem,  Tillemont  —  town  after  town 
submitted  to  him,  either  out  of  fear  or  love.f  Un- 
friendly Brussels  shut  him  out,  and  Louvaine  paid 
sixteen  thousand  crowns  for  an  exemption  from 
assault  ;:|:  but  Mechlin  welcomed  him  with  such 
cordial  good-will  that  Alva  laid  up  a  day  of  wrath 
against  the  uuhapj^y  citizens.§ 

Making  but  brief  halts,  the  prince  pushed  for- 
ward into  Hainault.  In  the  beginning  of  Septem- 
ber, he  came  in  sight  of  Mons,||  the  immediate 
objective  point  of  his  long  march.  But  between 
him  and  Count  Louis  loomed  Alva,  and  he  mar- 
velled at  the  cunning  position  of  the  beleaguerer, 
no  less  strong  for  keeping  in  and  mastering  the 
garrison,  than  impregnable  to  the  assaults  of  those 
who  should  come  to  their  relief. TT 

One  evening,  while  reconnoitring  preparatory 
to  an  attack  upon  Alva's  intrenchments,  William 
beheld  the  Spanish  camp  all  aglow  with  bonfires, 
while  hilarious  shouts,  volleys  of  musketry,  the  rub- 
a-dub  of  drums,  and  the  blare  of  trumpets  made 
night  hideous  with  blatant  noise.  Somewhat  sur- 
prised at  this  uproar,  which  seemed  like  a  resort  to 

-  2  Kings  18  :  20  ;  Psa.  20  :  7.  f  Stracla,  torn.  2,  p.  75. 

t  Ibid.  §  CoiTesjJ.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  115G. 

II  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  76.     Meiidoza,  Bor.         ^  Strada,  uhi  .siq). 


656  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

Chinese  tactics,  he  sent  out  spies  to  learn  the  cause 
of  the  jubilation.  The  wild  rejoicings  of  his  foe- 
men  were  not  a  masquerade ;  the  prince's  pickets 
brought  him  back  news  of  the  massacre  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew !* 

The  French  court  had  at  last  thrown  off  the 
mask,  so  that  the  world  could  read  the  features  of 
its  policy.  The  victims  had  been  collected  in  the 
shambles  of  the  capital  and  petted  into  a  feeling 
of  security,  and  were  awaiting  slaughter.  "  Que 
voidez-voiis? — What  would  you?"  lisped  the  queen- 
mother  ;  "  after  the  blood-letting,  a  little  water  will 
wash  the  smeared  pavements.  All  will  pass  as  the 
last  act  of  the  civil  war."t 

So,  on  the  eve  of  the  saint's  day,  after  long  pre- 
meditation, the  deed  was  done — in  a  panic,  but 
thoroughlj^  The  bars  of  hell's  gates  were  broken, 
and  the  devils  were  loose.  The  mob  of  Paris  lapped 
up  Huguenot  blood  from  every  gutter.  Throughout 
the  realm,  murder  ran  side  by  side  with  fanaticism, 
that  striking  where  this  said,  "Stab."  Coligny, 
Teligny,  Eochefoucault,  Lavardin,  and  seventy 
thousand  more,:j:  the  bravest  gentlemen,  the  best 
citizens  of  France,  lay  dead.  The  brain  seemed  to 
have  been  scooped  out  of  the  skull,  the  strong  right 
hand  appeared  to  have  been  lopped  from  the  body 
of  French  Protestantism.  § 

*  Stradii,  libi  sup.     \  Martin,  Histoire  de  France,  vol.  9,  in  loco. 

J  The  number  slain  has  been  variously  computed  at  from 
•.'5,000  all  the  way  up  to  100,000.  Vide  De  Thou,  torn.  6,  lib.  2, 
p.  430.     Meteren,  tom.  4,  folio  74,  et  alii. 

§  Vide  Hist,  of  the  Huguenots,  chap.  25,  passim. 


TRIUMPHS  ON  BOTH  SIDES  657 

At  Rome,  the  unlooked-for  good  news  was  wel- 
comed with  unparalleled  rejoicing.  The  cannon 
thundered  from  St.  Angelo ;  honorary  medals  were 
struck  to  commemorate  the  deed ;  a  day  of  public 
thanksgiving  was  set  apart ;  the  holy  father  went 
in  person  to  render  thanks  to  God,  the  just  Aven- 
ger, in  the  great  church  of  St.  Louis;  a  bull  was 
sent  out  which  promised  extraordinary  indulgences 
to  all  who  should  pray  heaven  and  the  saints  to 
bless  Charles  IX.  and  the  devout  butchers  of  his 
realm.* 

But  not  in  the  circle  of  the  saints  itself  could 
Philip's  hilarity  be  matched.  "  Word  reached  us 
on  the  7th  of  September  of  the  doings  on  St.  Bar- 
tholomew's day,"  wrote  St.  Goard,  the  French 
envoy  at  Madrid,  to  Charles  IX.  "  The  king,  on 
receiving  the  intelligence,  showed,  contrary  to  his 
usual  custom,  so  much  gaj-ety  that  he  seemed  more 
delighted  than  with  all  the  good  fortune  he  had 
ever  known  before.  He  called  all  his  familiars 
about  him,  in  order  to  assure  them  that  your  maj- 
esty was  his  good  brother,  and  that  no  one  else 
deserved  the  title  of  Most  Christian.  So,  too,  the 
next  morning,  when  I  came  into  his  presence,  he 
began  to  laugh."t  Certainly,  it  was  laughable. 
He  had  been  regarding  Charles  as  a  covert  foe,  as 
an  ally  of  the  enemies  of  holy  church;  and  he  had 
turned  out  to  be  a  brother  butcher  of  heretics. 
Eager  to  aid  the  work  of  pious  murder,  and  per- 

*"'  ytrada,  torn.  2,  p.  70.     Esprit  de  la  Ligne,  vol.  2,  p.  G5. 
t  Van  Prinst.     Cited  in  Motlcv,  vol.  2;  p.  390. 
28* 


/ 


658  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

liaps  a  trifle  jealous  of  the  French  king's  laurels, 
Philip  wrote  Alva:  "I  desire  that  you  kill  every 
Huguenot  you  catch.  The  sooner  these  noxious 
plants  are  extirpated,  the  less  fear  is  there  of  an- 
other crop."* 

In  Great  Britain,  the  first  shock  of  astonishment 
which  the  news  caused  was  quickly  succeeded  by 
an  outburst  of  indignation.  Nothing  but  the  pres- 
ence of  Cecil  in  London  prevented  the  citizens  from 
meting  out  "  Paris  justice"  to  every  papist  on  whom 
they  could  lay  hands. i"  The  court  went  into  mourn- 
ing; and  when  the  French  ambassador,  Le  Mothe 
Pension,  called  upon  the  queen  to  present  his  mas- 
ter's letter  of  extenuation,  Elizabeth  received  him 
in  deep  black,  heard  him  with  cold  civility,  and  de- 
clared that  the  marital-alliance  project  was  "off.";]: 

On  the  north  side  of  the  Tweed,  the  popular 
rage  ran  higher  than  it  did  in  England.  John  Knox, 
no  longer  able  to  walk  unsupported,  but  still  Sun- 
day after  Sunday  dragging  his  frail  body  to  the 
church,  and  there  with  keen  political  sagacity  inter- 
preting out  of  the  Bible  the  Scotland  of  his  own 
day — Knox  lifted  up  his  voice,  "like  ten  thousand 
trumpets,"  in  denunciation  of  the  "  Paris  matins."§ 

The  apologists  of  the  massacre  afiirmed  that 
Coligny  and  his  friends  were  plotting  regicide — that 
they  were  slain  by  Charles  in  self-defence.H     Con- 

*  Bulletins  de  I'Acad.  Eoy.  de  Belg.     Cited  iu  Motley,  ut  aiiiea. 
t  Fronde,  Hist.  Eng.,  vol.  10,  p.  4U. 

I  Ibid.,  p.  G19.  §  Ibid.,  i^p.  443,  444. 

II  Vide  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  70.     Hist.  Huguenots,  pp.  5G9,  570. 


TKIUMPHS  ON  BOTH  SIDES.  659 

temporaneous  Europe,  though  not  in  full  possession 
of  the  facts  as  we  are,  nevertheless  forestalled  pos- 
terity's denial  of  this  charge.  "  If  the  admiral  and 
the  rest  were  guilt}^"  pithily  queried  Sir  Thomas 
Smith,  "  why  were  they  not  apprehended  and  tried? 
So  is  the  journeyer  slaiAby  the  robber,  so  is  the 
chicken  by  the  fox,  so  the  hind  by  the  lion,  and  Abel 
by  Cain.  Grant  that  they  at  Paris  were  guilt}' — 
that  they  dreamt  treason  in  their  sleep,  what  did 
the  innocent  men,  women,  and  children  at  Lyons? 
What  did  the  sucking  babes  and  their  mothers 
at  Kouen,  at  Caen,  at  Eochelle?  Will  God 
sleep?"* 

But  after  the  immediate  sufferers,  it  was  the 
prince  of  Orange  who  was  most  fatally  affected  by 
the  treachery  of  the  court  of  France.  The  alliance 
with  Charles  IX.  was  the  pivot  of  his  campaign. 
Upon  Coligny's  coijperation  he  had  absolutely  de- 
pended. Supplies  from  Paris  were  essential  to  the 
holding  together  of.  his  hirelings.  Of  thrice  ten 
thousand  gallant  sons  religion  was  now  bereaved. 
Of  his  own  bright  hopes,  not  one  but  this  accursed 
deed  had  taken  from  him.  His  very  heart  was  bro- 
ken up,  "I  am  struck  as  with  a  sledge-hammer,"! 
said  he.  At  another  time  he  said :  "  So  far  from 
being  reprehensible  that  I  did  not  suspect  this 
crime,  I  should  rather  be  chargeable  with  malig- 
nity had  I  been  capable  of  such  a  sinister  suspi- 
cion.    'T  is  not  an  ordinary  thing  to  conceal  such 

*  Cited  in  Froude,  vol.  10,  p.  ■122,  seq. 

■j-  xircbives  de  la  Miiison  d'Orangc-Nassaii,  torn.  3..  p.  501. 


660  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

enormous  deliberations  under  the  plausible  cover 
of  a  league  and  marriage  festivals."* 

Althougli  convinced  that  the  result  of  the  cam- 
paign had  been  decided  by  the  "Paris  matins," 
"William  determined  to  do  his  utmost,  and  at  least 
deserve  success.  The  only  hoj)e  for  Mons  was  in 
the  possibility  that  he  might,  ere  the  news  came  to 
the  ears  of  his  troops,  provoke  Alva  into  a  pitched 
battle  and  come  out  the  victor.  Accordingij^,  he 
omitted  nothing  which  could  gall  the  haughty  spirit 
of  his  opponent,  and  tempt  him  to  the  field. t 

All  in  vain.  The  duke  was  much  too  cautious 
to  march  out  of  his  impregnable  entrenchments  and 
fight  a  superfluous  combat.  He  knew,  as  did  the 
prince,  that  now,  as  in  '68,  he  had  but  to  remain 
inactive  to  insure  liis  triumph.  For  were  not  the 
besieged  already  in  despair?  Was  not  Coligny 
dead  ?  Was  not  Protestant  France  paralyzed  ? 
Were  not  the  prince's  mercenaries,  enlisted  but  for 
three  months,  half-mutinous  *iow,  and  certain  to 
become  unmanageable  when  they  came  to  know 
that  nothing  was  to  be  looked  for  from  Paris  ?| 
So,  despite  the  pleadings  of  the  hot-heads,  Alva 
sat  still,  and  continued  to  batter  the  walls  of  Mons.§ 

Still  unwilling  to  quit  the  vicinage  of  Mons  with- 
out exhausting  his  means  of  raising  the  siege,  W^ill- 
iam  once  and  again  hurled  his  massed  forces  against 
Alva's  bastions,  but  only  to  be  once  and  again  re- 

*  Archives  de  la  Maisou  d'Orange-Nassaii,  torn.  3,  p.  501. 
t  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  396.  X  H^itl-,  seq. 

§  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  76.     Mendoza. 


TEIUMPHS  ON  BOTH  SIDES.  G61 

pulsed.^'  Then,  having  contrived  to  convey  to  Count 
Louis  intelHgeuce  of  his  inability  to  do  more,  and 
his  wish  that  he  should  surrender  on  the  best  ob- 
tainable terms,t  he  decamped,  retreating  through 
Mechhn  across  the  Meuse  and  towards  the  Khine.:}: 
On  reaching  Germany,  he  once  more  disbanded  his 
useless  hirelings,  not,  however,  without  grave  per- 
sonal danger ;  for,  maddened  by  his  inability  to  pay 
them  except  in  the  over-due  securities  of  the  north- 
ern cities,  the  brutal  mercenaries  would  have  given 
him  up  to  Alva,  but  for  the  intervention  of  their 
oificers.§ 

Late  in  the  autumn  of  1572 — alone,  defeated, 
quite  broken-hearted,  his  chivalrous  brother  per- 
haps a  prisoner — William  set  out  for  Holland. 
"There,"  wrote  he  to  Count  John  of  Nassau,  "there 
I  will  make  my  sepulchre. "|| 

On  the  19th  of  September,  Mons  surrendered. IT 
Kobbed  of  all  hope  by  the  colossal  crime  of  his 
imagined  ally  and  by  the  departure  of  the  prince. 
Count  Louis  had  nevertheless  held  out  until  Alva 
was  glad  to  consent  to  the  most  liberal  terms  of 
capitulation  he  had  ever  accorded — the  garrison 
being  permitted  to  march  out  with  the  honors  of 
war,  and  their  lives  and  estates  being  secured  to  the 
burghers,  though  all  Protestants  were  banished.*^^ 

«  Watsou,  p.  188. 

f  Metereu,  torn.  4,  folio  75.     Hoofd,  torn.  7,  p.  264. 

I  Ibid.  §  Ibid.     Bor.,  torn.  7,  p.  408. 

II  Groeu  van  Priust. ,  Archives,  etc. ,  torn.  4,  p.  4. 
II  Mendoza,  torn.  7,  p.  158,  et  seq. 

**  Mcudoza,  ut  anleu.     Hoofd,  torn.  7,  p.  !i(;5.     Bor.,  Metercn. 


662  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

Charles  IX.  liad  bidden  his  envoy  at  Brussels,  M. 
Mondau'cet,  to  urge  Alva  to  execute  the  Huguenots 
who  were  shut  up  at  Mons*  with  Count  Louis — men 
whom  he  had  himself  despatched  as  allies  across 
the  border.  So,  too,  as  we  have  seen,  spoke  Philip. 
Nevertheless,  La  Noue  contrived  to  get  his  fellow- 
soldiers  included  in  the  articles  of  capitulation,  and 
they  all  escaped  the  impending  axe  of  the  Spanish 
headsman.  Two  motives  were  at  the  bottom  of 
Alva's  unwonted  generosity — he  was  anxious  to  get 
possession  of  Mons,  and  he  was  willing  to  set  oif 
his  liberality  against  the  horrid  background  of  St. 
Bartholomew. 

Still,  though  Count  Louis  was  left  to  pass  into 
Germany  and  La  Nou6  went  unhung,  Mons  was  not 
to  escape  scot-free.  Noircarmes,  whose  exi^erience 
at  Valenciennes  some  years  back  preeminently  fit- 
ted him  for  such  service — Noircarmes  was  empow- 
ered to  create  a  Commission  of  Troubles,  in  imita- 
tion of  the  duke's  Council  of  Blood  at  Brussels, 
and  to  drag  before  this  tribunal  whomsoever  he 
would  for  examination  and  for  punishment.f  The 
cruelty  with  which  he  performed  this  labor  of  love 
became  traditional.  In  after  days  nurses  were  wont 
to  hush  their  charges  by  whispering  his  name. 

As  the  keys  of  Valenciennes,  in  1567,  were  said 
to  have  opened  the  gates  of  all  the  rebel  cities  in 
that  initial  outbreak,  so  now  those  of  Mons  were 
found  to  unlock  the  doors  of  the  insurgent  towns 

*  Corresp.  de  Mondaucet ;  cited  iu  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  394. 
t  Motley,  ubi  si(j:>.,  p.  4.03. 


TKIUMPHS  ON  BOTH  SIDES.  663 

tlirougliout  the  whole  South  Netherlands.  What 
places  had  embraced  the  patriot  cause  and  minis- 
tered to  Orange,  vied  with  each  other  in  servile  su- 
ing for  the  despot's  pardon.  Most  were  graciously 
permitted  to  redeem  themselves  from  jDillage  and 
the  torch  by  the  payment  of  large  sums  of  money;* 
others  were  reserved  for  punishment  harsher  than  a 
mulct  in  the  coin  of  the  realm. 

Among  these  last  was  Mechlin.  This  beautiful 
city  was  an  archiepiscopal  see — strongly,  almost 
unanimously  Bomanist.t  Yet  it  had  given  William 
a  cordial  greeting,  though  just  before  refusing  to 
receive  a  Spanish  garrison.  J  This  atrocious  offence 
might  not  be  compounded.  "  Alva  wheeled  his  legions 
from  Mons  straight  to  Mechlin.  Then  unloosing 
the  iron  clasp  of  his  discipline,  he  bade  them  indem- 
nify themselves  for  the  hardships  of  their  recent  life 
in  camp  by  the  sack  of  the  helpless  citizens,  at  that 
very  moment  suppliants  at  his  feet.§ 

The  soldiers,  to  whom  heavy  arrears  were  due, 
received  the  order  with  a  yell  of  delight ;  and  while 
a  solemn  procession  Avas  winding  out  of  the  city 
gates,  eager  to  make  the  amende  honorable,  while 
the  penitent  psalms  of  attendant  churchmen  were 
resounding,  they  threw  themselves  pell-mell  into  the 
town,  and  carried  thieving,  dishonor,  death,  and  the 
torch  to  every  home.ll    Inspired,  not  by  fanaticism — ■ 

*  Camiiana,  torn.  3,  ]p.  97.     Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  409,  et  seq. 

t  Motley,  vol.  2,  pp.  408,  409. 

J  Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  409,  et  seq. 

§  Ibid.     Metci'cu,  torn.  4,  folio  76.  ||  Ibid, 


661  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

for  liere  there  were  few  of  the  reformed  to  fleece 
and  kill,  and  friend  and  foe  alike  were  pillaged* — 
but  by  a  mere  love  of  plunder,  and  attended  by  that 
fearful  triad,  rapine,  lust,  and  murder,  these  human 
devils  ransacked  Mechlin  for  three  days  and  nights, 
respecting  nothing,  sparing  nothing,  leaving  noth- 
ing, f  These  soldiers  of  the  saints  did  not  even 
pause  at  sacrilege.  Convents  were  gutted  as  well 
as  mansions ;  nuns  were  violated  equally  with  ma- 
trons.J  Over  the  outrage  the  Komanist  historians 
themselves  hoot  and  cry.  Shame. § 

Alva  justified  every  thing  in  an  elaborate  paper 
to  the  king,  and  again  in  a  public  document.ll  The 
effigy  at  Antwerp  was  not  more  brazen  than  its 
original.  He  had  the  effrontery  to  cover  Mechlin 
with  the  phrase,  Pro  bono  intblico.  Then,  having 
scourcred  Flanders  and  Brabant  back  to  the  shack- 
les  which  they  had  so  recently  thrown  off,  he  said : 
"Now  for  a  warlike  bout  i'  the  north,"  nothing 
doubting  that  Holland  too  would  soon  be  forced  to 
resume  its  fetters. 

«  Motley,  uU  sup.         \  Ibid.  J  Ibid.     Watsou,  p.  190. 

§  Vide  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  G08,  note. 

11  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  1185.     Bor.,  id  aniea. 


SCENES  or  HORROR.  GG5 

CHAPTEK    XXXVI. 

SCENES  OF   HOKKOE. 

Feom  the  town  of  Orsoy,  where  the  mercenaries 
had  been  mustered  out,  the  prmce  of  Oraftge  rode 
to  Kempen,  in  Overyssel,  scudding  thence  across 
the  Zuyder  Zee  to  Eukhuj-zeu."'^  Twice  broken, 
hunted,  and  an  outhxw,  he  brought  with  him  only  a 
few  domestics  and  seventy  dragoons.f  Neverthe- 
less, the  cold  lagoons  of  Holland  echoed  and  re- 
echoed to  the  joyous  shouts  of  welcome  which  the 
burghers  gave  him — cordial  and  admiring  as  they 
could  have  been  had  he  come  to  them  covered  with 
laurels  instead  of  cypress. 

But  neither  in  regrets  nor  pageants  did  William 
waste  the  time.  Every  moment  was  precious.  The 
Spaniards  were  already  facing  to  the  north,  and 
much  still  remained  to  be  done  ere  they  could  be 
fitly  met.  Calm,  resolute,  prescient,  he  went  to 
work.  Chaotic  masses  of  details  were  shaped  into 
order  by  his  plastic  fingers.  Drooping  and  half- 
hostile  magistracies  were  moulded  into  patriotic 
organisms.  Much  space  was  given  to  advising 
with  and  visiting  the  towns.  Indefatigable,  the 
prince  also  made  himself  ubiquitous.  Wherever  he 
appeared,  determination  and  enthusiasm  followed 
in  his  footsteps  and  remained  behind.      All  felt, 

■^  Hoofd,  torn.  7,  p.  2G5.     Bor.,  torn.  G,  p.  414,  f  It)itl. 


666  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

Avitli  him,  tliat  existence  without  liberty,  life  -with- 
out religion  to  assuage  its  cares,  would  be  value- 
less.* 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  the  province,  Orange 
convened  the  estates  at  Haarlem.t  Thither  he 
went  with  them  to  mature  the  ways  and  means  of 
resistance.  AVith  him  also  went  up  to  the  assem- 
bly the  deputies  of  twelve  cities,  now  added  to  the 
original  six,  which,  with  the  nobles,  had  immemo- 
rially  constituted  the  provincial  legislature.!  This 
was  a  democratic  innovation  as  gracious  and  popu- 
lar as  it  was  prudent  and  sagacious.  It  recognized 
the  right  of  all  to  a  voice  in  the  decision  of  matters 
which  were  of  general  concern.  It  inspired  the 
enfranchised  towns  to  contribute  with  greater  cheer- 
fulness towards  the  public  defence.  It  made  the 
estates  themselves  more  representative,  bound  the 
people  in  a  more  intimate  and  equitable  union,  and 
placed  the  province,  like  a  pyramid,  upon  its  broad- 
est base. 

Unlike  some  modern  conventions,  this  at  Haar- 
lem met  not  to  say,  but  to  do.  First,  the  prince 
was  greeted ;  then,  in  secret  session,  "William  ex- 
plained his  plan  of  procedure ;  finally,  several  reg- 
ulations— for  the  better  ordering  of  the  troops,  for 
the  forbidding  any  communication  with  the  enemy, 
for  the  prohibiting  the  exportation  of  provisions, 

• 

«'■  Watson,  p.  195. 

t  Bor.,  uU  sup.    Wagenaer,  Vader.  Hist.,  torn.  G,  p.  39G,  et  seq. 
X  Vide  Wagenaer,  torn.  6,  p.  377,  et  seq.     Also  Motley,  vol.  2, 
p.  377. 


SCENES  OF  HOREOE.  66^ 

for  the  confirming  the  impositions  laid  by  the  con- 
gress of  Dort  upon  the  masses — were  made.*  And 
since  the  existing  members  of  the  council  of  finance 
and  of  the  supreme  court  of  Holland,  held  under 
the  Spaniard,  and  had  retired  to  Utrecht  on  the 
revolt  of  the  towns,  these  faithless  stewards  were 
declared  to  have  forfeited  their  offices,  which  were 
refilled  with  patriots.f  All  these  acts  were  done  by 
the  combined  authority  of  William  and  the  estates, 
without  the  usual  reservation  of  the  king's  future 
approbation — without  any  appeal  from  Philip  drunk 
to  Philip  sober :  so  that  the  exercise  of  these  sover- 
eign powers  was,  if  not  the  formal,  then  the  virtual 
enfranchisement  of  Holland.;]: 

After  the  fall  of  Mons,  the  faith  of  Orange  had 
been  momentarily  eclipsed  ;  now  it  shone  out  the 
brighter  for  that  dijDping  of  its  disk  in  clouds. 
Here  at  least  were  men  trusty  and  resolute  to  be 
free.  God  too  still  reigned — Alva's  tactics  and  St. 
Bartholomew  had  not  deposed  Him.  "I  trust  ever," 
wrote  the  prince  to  John  Nassau,  "  that  the  great 
God  of  battles  is  with  me,  and  that  he  will  fight  in 
the  midst  of  whatever  forces  I  may  gather  withal."§ 

During  all  these  months — indeed,  since  the 
revolt  of  Flushing,  Zealand  had  been  the  scene  of 
active  hostilities.  The  island  of  Walcheren,  espe- 
cially, was  a  "  debatable  ground."  On  its  south 
side  stood  Flushing,  the  rendezvous  of  "  the  beggars 

«  Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  409,  et  seq.    Velius  Hooru,  torn.  3,  p.  200. 
t  Ibid.  t  Ibid.     Davies,  Hist,  of  Holland,  vol.  1,  p.  391. 

§  Archives  et  Corresp.,  etc.,  torn.  3,  p.  461. 


C68  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

of  the  sea;"  in  the  north  lay  Middleburg,  held  by 
a  Spanish  garrison,  who  overawed  the  townsfolk, 
honest  patriots  almost  to  a  man.* 

"W^illiam's  lieutenant,  'T  Zeraerts,  was  anxious 
to  clutch  the  whole  island  for  the  prince.  The 
Spaniards,  aware  of  its  yital  importance  to  Alva, 
were  equally  desirous  to  defend  what  portion  they 
already  stood  on.  Mutual  defiances,  assaults  and 
counter -assaults,  single  combats,  and  incessant 
alarms — these,  together  with  hatreds  begotten  of 
religious  differences  and  antipathies  of  race,  trans- 
formed Walcheren  into  a  miniature  pandemonium. t 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1572,  'T  Zeraerts  laid 
close  and  skilful  siege  to  Middleburg.  It  was  as 
cleverly  defended.  But  the  besieged  were  numer- 
ically weak,  and  Alva  wished,  if  possible,  to  relieve 
them.  For  this  purpose,  he  fitted  out  two  separate 
fleets,  both  of  which  were  gobbled  up  by  "  the  beg- 
gars of  the  sea,"  who  had  complete  command  of  the 
waters  of  the  archipelago. |  Notwithstanding  these 
successes,  the  patriots  were  foiled  in  every  eflbrt  to 
take  Middleburg;  and  'T  Zeraerts  soon  found  that  it 
could  not  be  starved  into  submission,  until  Tergoes, 
a  town  upon  the  neighbor  island  of  South  Beveland, 
whence  a  plentiful  supply  of  provisions  was  ob- 
tained by  the  besieged,  should  be  previously  closed 
as  a  Spanish  depot  of  subsistence.§ 

■-•  Watson,  f).  172.     Eeiitivoglio. 

f  Meteren,  torn.  4,  folio  69.   Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  377,  d  seq.    Hoofd, 
V\'agenaer.  %  Ibid.     Watson,  iibi  sup. 

§  Bor.,  torn.  G,  p.  392.     Boutivoglio,  Meteren. 


SCENES  OF  HOPvROK.  660 

Accordingly,  he  left  his  trenches  before  Middle- 
burg,  ferried  his  troops  across  the  little  belt  of  water 
which  separated  the  two  islands,  and  with  seven 
thousand  men,  German,  French,  and  English  Prot- 
estants, volunteers,  formally  invested  Tergoes.* 

The  governor-general  knew  that  the  taking  of 
Tergoes  would  insure  the  fall  of  Middleburg,  which 
would  wrench  Zealand  from  his  hand.  Therefore 
he  ordered  Sanchio  D'Avila,  who  commanded  at 
Antwerp  in  his  absence  before  Mons,t  to  make 
every  exertion  to  raise  the  siege.J  D'Avila  ex- 
hausted his  ingenuity  in  the  invention  of  plans 
whereby  to  achieve  this  end,  now  essaying  to  re- 
lieve Tergoes  by  land,  now  by  sea,  but  alwaj's  to 
no  purpose. 

One  day — it  Avas  in  late  October — a  Flemish  mar- 
iner, Captain  Plomaert,  an  ultra-loyalist,  waited 
upon  D'Avila,  and  proposed  an  amphibious  scheme 
of  relief,  unique  in  the  annals  of  war. 

The  river  Scheldt,  which  divides  the  provinces 
of  Brabant  and  Flanders,  throws  open  its  arms,  the 
East  Scheldt  and  the  West  Scheldt,  ere  reaching  the 
sea,  and  clasps  the  archipelago  of  Zealand — islands 
half  floating  on,  half  submerged  by  the  circumja- 
cent waters. §  Of  these  islands.  South  Beveland,  of 
which  Tergoes  was  the  capital,  was  the  largest. 
Fifty  years  before,  it  had  formed  part  of  the  main- 
land.    But  in  1532,  one  of  those  frightful  storms 

*  Bor.,  torn.  G,  p.  3U2.     Bentivofj'lio,  Sleteren. 

j-  Motlej',  vol.  2,  p.  413.  J  Bor.,  Metereu,  et  alii. 

fi  Motley,  uhl  su])..  p.  414. 


670  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

peculiar  to  those  coasts,  had  torn  it  from  the  shore 
by  drowning  ten  miles  of  the  intervening  territory — 
land  which  no  skill  had  since  been  able  to  regain.* 
The  space  thus  flooded  could  not  be  crossed  in 
boats  eA^en  at  high-tide,  on  account  of  abounding 
flats  and  shallows ;  and  at  low-water  it  had  always 
been  esteemed  unfordable  because  of  the  miry  and 
treacherous  bottom,  which  persons  then  alive  re- 
membered to  have  seen  traversed  by  three  deep 
streams  before  the  overflow.! 

Nevertheless,  Plomaert  thought  it  practicable 
for  trooj)S  to  cross  this  wilderness  of  water,  where 
the  average  depth  was  five  feet,  and  where  the  tide 
rose  and  fell  at  least  ten  feet — to  pass  from  the 
shore,  ten  miles  across,  to  the  island.:}:  To  satisfy 
himself  of  the  possibility  of  doing  so,  he  crossed 
and  recrossed  twice,  with  a  couple  of  equally  hardy 
comrades.  Then  he  offered  to  lead  over  reinforce- 
ments to  Tergoes.§ 

D'Avila,  at  his  wits'  end,  listened  to  this  propo- 
sition with  delight;  and  after  consultation  with  his 
companion  in  arms,  Mondragone,  he  decided  to 
make  the  venture.  "  I  will  oflicer  the  expedition," 
cried  Mondragone.il  Three  thousand  men  Avere  at 
once  ordered  to  Bergen-op-Zoom.*^  Thence  Mon- 
dragone led  them  to  Aggier,  a  village  c^uite  at  the 

*  Mendoza,  torn.  7,  p.  1G6,  seq.     Bor.,  uhi  sup.     Hoofd. 

f  Bentivoglio,  torn.  6,  yy.  110.     Hoofd,  torn.  7,  p.  270,  et  seq. 

%  Ibid.     Meteren,  torn.  4,  folios  76,  77. 

§  Ibid.  II  Ibid.,  Mendoza. 

IT  Bentivoglio,  torn.  6,  p.  112.     Bor..  torn.  6,  p.  394. 


SCENES  OF  HOEEOE.  671 

entrance  of  the  dangerous  ford.*  Here  the  veteran 
informed  the  soldiers  of  the  object  of  the  venture, 
pointed  out  the  difficulty  of  the  route,  spoke  of  the 
glorj  sure  to  result  from  success,  distributed  three 
thousand  knapsacks  filled  with  biscuit,  powder,  and 
matches,  ordered  the  adventurers  to  keep  close; 
then  at  half  ebb-tide,  amid  enthusiastic  cheering, 
in  single  file,  and  preceded  by  Plomaert  and  Mon- 
dragone,  all  plunged  boldly,  gayly  in,  and  splashed 
on,  on,  on  towards  the  distant  shore. 

They  entered  the  water  at  midnight,  and  for  five 
hours  they  pursued  the  watery  war-path,  through 
the  bottom  of  the  sea,  over  the  slimy  quicksands. 
Not  a  man  of  the  three  thousand,  save  Plomaert, 
knew  the  face  of  the  land  before  the  inundation, 
but  all  did  know  that  if  any  unforeseen  accident 
should  retard  their  j^assage,  the  incoming  tide 
would  certainly  engulf  them.  All  were  aware  that 
the  patriots  might  massacre  them  man  by  man  as 
they  essaj'ed  to  land,  numb  and  fatigued  with  the 
dark  and  perilous  march.  Spite  of  all,  they  kept 
cheerily  on,  and,  strange  to  relate,  reached  the  isl- 
and in  the  gray  of  the  morning  with  the  loss  of  but 
nine  menf — certainly  among  the  most  brilliant  feats 
on  any  martial  record. 

Halting  but  an  hour  at  the  dyke  of  Yersichen, 
some  four  miles  from  Tergoes,  to  breathe,  and  eat 
a  morsel,  the  Spaniards  struck  boldly  for  the  camp 

"~"  Bor.,  uhi  sup. 

f  Bentivoglio,  torn.  C,  p.  112.    Mendoza,  torn.  7,  p.  1G7,     Bor., 
torn.  G,  p.  394. 


672  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION 

of  the  besiegers,  wlio,  amazed  and  panic-struck  at 
their  appearance,  waited  but  to  see  their  banners, 
and  then,  despite  'T  Zeraerts'  pleadings,  rushed 
wildly  to  their  boats,  leaving  their  camp  to  be 
plundered  by  the  foe.*  Mondragone,  after  pursu- 
ing and  routing  the  patriot  rear-giiard,  entered 
Tergoes  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  garrison, 
strengthened  its  works,  reinforced  the  stronghold, 
left  a  good  store  of  supplies,  and  returned  to  Bra- 
bant to  rejoin  Alva  before  Mons.t 

When  Orange  (?ame  into  the  north,  such  was  still 
the  political  situation  in  Zealand — a  war  of  races 
and  a  war  of  creeds,  fanatical,  pitiless,  demoniacal. 
By  his  order,  siege  was  again  laid  to  Middleburg, 
and  a  close  blockade  hermetically  sealed  the  place.^' 
At  the  same  time,  Zirickzee,  and  shortly  afterwards 
the  whole  island  of  Schouwen,  expelled  the  Spaniard 
and  flung  out  the  patriot  banner.§ 

Meantime,  Duke  Alva,  after  scourging  the  recu- 
sant cities  of  Brabant  and  Flanders  back  to  their 
allegiance,  retired  to  rest  his  weary  and  gout- 
racked  frame  at  Nimeguen,  leaving  his  son,  Don 
Frederic  de  Toledo  to  conduct  the  army  into  the 
maritime  provinces,  appointing  Amsterdam  as  the 
rendezvous  in  Holland,  whither,  after  a  few  days' 
repose,  he  meant  himself  to  go.|| 

Making  a  detour  from  Mechlin,  Don  Frederic 

■"  Bentivoglio,  torn.  G,  p.  112.     Mendoza,  torn.  7,  p.  1G7.    Bor., 
torn.  6,  p.  294.  *  f  Il^ic^- 

%  Meteren,  torn.  4,  folio  87.  §  Ibid. 

II  Mendoza,  torn.  8,  p.  172.     Meteren,  torn.  4,  folio  78. 


SCENES  OF  HOKHOR.  G73 

marclied  into  Guelderlancl,  and  thence,  facing  due 
west,  Holland- ward,  through  the  province  of  Utrecht. 
His  object  in  this  circuit  was  to  desiccate  the  sore 
of  rebellion  in  the  northeast  ere  attempting  to  medi- 
cine the  yet  more  diseased  seaboard.  His  advance 
was  a  continued  triumph."  Upon  those  towns 
which  just  before  had  been  enthusiastic  for  Orange, 
the  Spanish  bugles  acted  as  did  the  blowing  of  the 
rams'  horns  under  the  walls  of  Jericho — they  at 
once  succumbed. 

One  little  town,  however — Zutphen  in  Guelder- 
land — had  been  garrisoned  by  William.  It  was 
defended  by  a  wall  flanked  with  bastions  and  girt 
by  a  deep  ditch.  The  Yssel  washed  the  fortifica- 
tions on  one  side,  the  Berkel  on  another ;  while  on 
the  two  remaining  sides  the  ground  was  a  marshy 
puddle,  usually  impassable.f  But  unhappily  these 
natural  advantages  were  nullified  at  this  juncture, 
the  frost  having  set  in  with  uncommon  severity  a 
night  or  two  before  the  Spaniard  demanded  en- 
trance. The  garrison  made  but  a  show  of  resist- 
ance ;  then,  convinced  of  the  folly  of  inviting  an 
assault,  fled,  followed  by  those  of  the  citizens  who 
had  been  prominently  active  against  Alva.:}: 

Don  Frederic,  who  was  just  ordering  an  esca- 
lade, was  promptly  informed  of  this  fact  by  the 
burghers,  and  implored  to  stay  his  hand  and  accept 

*  Mendoza,  torn.  8,   page   172.      Meteren,    torn.  4,   folio   78. 
Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  77. 

t  Hoofd,  Bor.     Watson,  p.  191. 
i  Ibid. 
nmcii  Ror.  29 


674:  THE  DUTCH  REFOKMATION. 

a  surrender  at  discretion.*  Of  this,  the  son  of  his 
father,  only  too  glad  of  a  pretext  for  severity,  would 
not  hear.  Sword  in  hand,  the  army  entered  town  ; 
and  once  in,  platoon  after  platoon  broke  rank,  each 
soldier  running  off  to  his  individual  work  of  pillage, 
lust,  arson,  murder.  Scores  of  the  unarmed  citizens 
were  hung  on  the  Zutphen  trees  ;  other  scores  were 
killed  in  the  streets ;  still  others  at  their  own 
hearthstones.  Finall}^,  the  assailants,  dissatisfied 
with  such  laggard  slaughter,  seized  five  hundred  of 
their  victims,  tied  them  two  by  two,  and  so  plunged 
them  headlong  into  the  Yssel.f  Still  worse  fared 
the  women  of  the  place,  and  when  death  came  it  was 
mercy.:]:  "When  neither  chastity  nor  life  remained, 
the  houses  were  fired,  and  what  had  been  Zutphen 
was  a  pile  of  charred  corpses,  a  heap  of  ashes.§ 

The  smouldering  and  foetid  ruins  of  Zutphen 
affrighted  the  whole  northeast  into  immediate  sub- 
mission.||  Count  Van  den  Burg,  the  brother-in-law 
of  Orange  and  his  lieutenant  in  those  parts,  left  his 
post  and  his  wife  too,  in  ignominious  flight  for  Ger- 
many.T  Megen,  the  loyalist  governor,  was  kept 
busy  receiving  deputies  from  the  repentant  towns, 
all  of  whom  whimpered  "  Peccavi."** 

So  much  achieved,  Don  Frederic  started  for 
Amsterdam.     Directly  in  his  path  stood  the  town 

«  Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  415.     Watson,  id  antea, 

t  Ibid.     Metereu  and  Hoofd,  id  antea. 

X  Ibid.     Campana,  p.  97.  §  Ibid. 

II  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  77. 

«j  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  1186.   Bor.,  Meteren,  ubisup. 

CO  li  J  have  sinned." 


SCENES  OF  PIOREOE.  G75 

of  Naarden,  just  on  the  border  of  Holland — accord- 
ing to  Mendoza,  "  the  first  in  that  province  in  which 
heresy  built  its  nest,  whence  it  had  taken  flight  to 
all  the  neighboring  cities."*  This  "nest"  these 
pious  children  of  holy  church  were  naturally  desir- 
ous to  clean  out.  Happily  for  them,  Naarden  had 
not  sent  in  its  submission,  and  yet  more  happily, 
when  an  avant-courrier  summoned  it  to  surrender, 
its  burghers  had  replied,  "  By  the  help  of  God,  we 
will  keep  our  town,  now  as  ever,  to  the  service  of 
the  prince  of  Orange  and  King  Philip."t  This 
double  crime  of  heresy  and  rebellion  merited  a  two- 
fold chastisement,  which  Don  Frederic  at  once 
moved  forward  to  bestow. 

Meantime,  the  citizens,  in  want  of  arms,  ammu- 
nition, a  garrison — every  warlike  store — and  there- 
fore ill-prepared  to  repel  an  assault,  immediately 
sent  agents  to  purchase  powder  on  the  credit  of  the 
estates  of  Holland  ;  wTote  to  Sanoy,  William's  dep- 
uty, for  aid ;  and  solicited  Berthold  Eutes,  one  of 
De  la  Marck'"s  sea-beggars,  then  at  Vianen,  to  throw 
his  privateersmen  into  their  citadel  without  delay.:}: 
In  return,  nothing  was  obtained  but  fair  words§ — 
very  inefficient  weapons  with  which  to  defend 
weak  walls  and  unarmed  bastions. 

As  the  Spaniards  were  now  close  by,  and  as 
there  was  no  prospect  of  succor,  nothing  remained 
for  the  inhabitants  to  do  save  to  effect  an  honorable 

*  Meudoza,  torn.  8,  p.  173. 

t  Bor.,  torn.  G,  p.  417.     Hoofd,  torn.  7,  p.  27G. 

X  Iljid.  §  IbicL 


676  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

capitulation,  if  that  were  still  possible.  Accord- 
ingly, on  the  1st  of  December,  1572,  they  despatch- 
ed two  of  the  most  influential  of  their  number  to 
Don  Frederic's  camp  to  surrender  the  place.*  The 
messengers  were  refused  admission  to  the  tent  of 
the  commander,  and  ordered  to  return  and  expect 
his  reply  at  the  gates  of  Naarden.t  Alarmed  by 
this  ominous  answer,  one  of  the  deputies  seized  the 
first  opportunity  to  leap  from  the  sled  in  which  both 
travelled,  saying  to  his  companion,  "Adieu;  I  think 
I  will  not  go  back  just  now."  The  other,  who  could 
not  so  readily  forsake  his  family  and  his  fellow- 
citizens,  returned  alone.l 

At  Bussem,  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Naarden, 
the  Spanish  advance  halted  just  at  dark.  Here 
they  were  met  by  another  envoy,  who  was  com- 
manded to  reenter  the  town,  collect  a  deputation 
fully  empowered  to  surrender  the  place,  and  retiirn 
to  confer  with  Don  Frederic  at  daybreak.  This  he 
did,  coming  out  bright  and  early  the  next  morning 
with  four  other  citizens,  one  of  whom  was  Lambert 
Hortensius,  a  Koman  priest,  rector  of  a  Latin  school, 
a  man  eminent  in  medi£eval  letters.  §  Before  reach- 
ing camp,  the  Spanish  captain,  Julian  Romero,  met 
them,  commissioned,  as  he  said,  by  Don  Frederic 
to  settle  the  terms  of  capitulation.  With  him,  there- 
fore, the  envoys  agreed  that  Naarden  should  admit 
the  Spaniards  on  the  express  condition  that  the 

•"-  Bor.,  torn.  G,  p.  417.    Hoofd,  torn.  7,  p.  276. 

t  Bor.,  iibi  siqj. 

t  Bor.,  td  antea.  (^  Hoofd,  torn.  7,  p.  278. 


SCENES  OF  HORROR.  677 

lives  aud  properties  of  the  inliabitauts  sliould  be 
secure ;  that  the  burghers  should  take  a  new  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  king;  and  that  one  hundred 
soldiers  should  be  permitted  to  take  out  of  town  so 
much  spoil  as  they  could  carry — "in  order,"  said 
Eomero,  "  to  satisfy  the  troops."*  The  treaty  was 
a  verbal  one ;  but  it  was  confirmed  by  the  custom- 
ary form  of  joining  hands,  the  ceremony  by  which 
the  estates  and  William  had  recently  promised 
fidelity  to  each  other,  and  one  deemed  an  ample 
security  by  these  primitive  and  faithful  men.t  Hav- 
ing thus  plighted  his  word,  Don  Julian  entered  the 
city,  followed  by  six  hundred  musketeers.:]: 

While  the  deputies  were  treating  with  Romero, 
the  housewives  were  busy  preparing  a  feast  for 
their  guests,  to  which  all  soon  sat  down,  Don  Julian 
being  entertained  with  especial  honor  by  a  wealthy 
senator.  § 

On  rising  from  the  table,  Don  Julian  ordered 
the  great  bell  to  ring  a  summons  for  the  townsfolk 
to  gather  in  the  guild-hall  to  take  the  oath.  Five 
hundred  of  them  obeyed  the  call ;  a  few,  seized 
with  a  vagiie  suspicion  went  to  secrete  themselves.il 
Suddenly  a  priest,  who  had  been  pacing  to  and  fro 
in  front  of  the  guUd-hall,  flung  open  the  door  and 
shouted  to  the  crowded  audience,  "  Prepare  for  in- 
stant death!  "IT 

°  Hoofd,  p.  277.     Bor.,  ublsup. 

■j-  Davies,  Hist,  of  Holland,  vol.  1,  p.  593. 

J  Bor.,  Hoofd,  ubi  sup. 

§  Hoofd,  ubi  sup.     Motley,  vol.  2,  pp.  420,  421. 

il  Hoofd,  torn.  7,  p.  278.  Bor.,  torn.  7,  p.  416,  ctseq.       1i  Ibid. 


678  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

These  talismanic  words  conjured  up  unthouglit- 
of  horrors.  The  musketeers,  gorged  with  dainties, 
fired  a  volley  into  the  midst  of  their  defenceless 
entertainers,  and  then,  with  a  frightful  yell,  sprang 
in  upon  them  with  sword  and  dagger.  Before  five 
minutes  had  elapsed  the  building  was  on  fire  and 
five  hundred  men  were  corpses. 

"Inflamed,  but  not  satiated,"  says  the  fullest 
historian  of  the  massacre,  "  the  Spaniards  then 
rushed  into  the  streets,  thirsty  for  fresh  horrors. 
The  houses  were  rifled  of  their  contents,  and  the 
citizens  were  forced  to  carry  the  booty  to  the  camj5, 
being  then  struck  dead  as  their  reward.  The  town 
too  was  fired  in  every  direction  that  the  skulkers 
might  be  singed  from  their  hiding-places.  As  fast 
as  they  came  forth  they  were  put  to  death  by  their 
impatient  foes.  Some  were  pierced  with  rapiers; 
some  were  chopped  to  pieces  with  axes ;  some 
were  surrounded  in  the  burning  streets  by  groups 
of  laughing  soldiers,  intoxicated,  not  with  wine  but 
with  blood,  who  tossed  them  to  and  fro  with  their 
lances  and  derived  a  wild  amusement  fi'om  their 
dying  agonies.  Those  who  attempted  resistance 
were  crimped  alive  like  fishes,  and  left  to  gasp 
themselves  to  death  in  lingering  torture.  The  sol- 
diers becoming  more  and  more  insane  as  the  foul 
work  went  on,  opened  the  veins  of  their  victims  and 
drank  their  blood  as  if  it  had  been  wine.  Some  of 
the  burghers  were  temporarily  spared,  that  they 
might  witness  the  violation  of  their  wives  and 
daughters,  being  then  butchered  in  company  with 


SCENES  OF  HORROfi.  679 

these  still  more  unhappy  sufferers.  Miracles  of 
brutality  were  accomplisliecL  Neither  church  nor 
hearth  was  sacred.  Men  were  slain,  women  were 
outraged  at  the  altars,  in  the  streets,  in  their  bla- 
zing homes."'^ 

In  such  a  mass  of  horror,  it  seems  superfluous 
to  mention  individual  cases ;  the  pen  falters  at  its 
task.  Nevertheless,  where  exaggeration  is  impos- 
sible, extenuation  is  base,-  reluctance  crime.  The 
life  of  Lambert  Hortensius  was  spared,  since  he 
was  a  priest ;  but  his  son,  organist  of  the  chief 
church,  Avas  slain,  his  heart  being  torn  out  before 
his  father's  eyes.f  A  smith  named  Hubert  Will- 
iamson,! snatching  up  a  three-legged  stool  in  one 
hand  and  wielding  a  sword  in  the  other,  bravely 
defended  the  entrance  to  his  house  for  some  time, 
killing  a  number  of  his  assailants.  At  last,  wound- 
ed and  overpowered,  he  sank  to  the  floor,  dropping 
his  rude  shield ;  but  he  had  sufficient  strength  left 
to  grasp  with  his  toil-hardened  hands  the  blades  of 
two  swords  pointed  at  his  breast.  The  swords  were 
drawn  back,  severing  all  his  fingers ;  and  the  hero 
was  then  slain.  At  his  side,  through  the  whole 
scene,  knelt  his  daughter^  vainly  begging  for  her 

*  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  421,  et  seq.,  after  Hoofd  and  Bor. 

t  Hoofd,  ut  anted. 

I  "Those  of  the  Hollanders  who  were  not  noble  had  at  this 
time  no  surnames.  Some  were  distinguished  by  the  name  of  the 
trade  they  followed,  or  sometimes  by  personal  or  mental  qualities, 
or  by  their  birthplace  ;  others  added  son  to  the  Christian  name  of 
their  fathers  or  ancestors.  The  nobles  took  their  names  from  their 
estates."    Davies,  vol.  1,  p.  39G,  note. 


680  THE-DUTCH  EEFOBMATION. 

father's  life.  "Wlien  lie  was  dead,  the  soldiers  flung 
her  23arent'<s  yet  quivering  fingers  in  her  face. 

Of  the  entire  population,  not  sixty  remained 
alive.*  And  when  all  was  over,  Don  Frederic,  with 
impious  barbarity — barbarity  without  a  parallel  in 
the  annals  of  the  most  savage  nations — forbade 
these  few  forlorn  survivors  to  bury  their  dishon- 
ored dead.  In  the  ruined  streets,  the  corpses 
were  left  for  three  weeks  to  putrefy.f 

Thus  was  Naarden  dashed  out  of  existence — 
quiet,  happy  Naarden,  whose  denizens  for  long 
years  had  been  glad  to  carry  into  practice  the 
counsel  of  the  prophet  to  the  Israelites :  "  Pray  for 
the  peace  of  the  city  in  which  3'ou  dwell ;  for  in  the 
peace  thereof  ye  shall  have  peace.":]: 

Alva  not  only  endorsed  the  massacre — he  gloated 
over  it.  "  The  army  cut  the  throats  of  all,"  wrote  he 
to  Philip,  "not  a  mother's  son  was  left  alive.  'T  was 
a  permission  of  God  that  these  people  should  have 
undertaken  to  defend  a  city  so  weak  that  only  her- 
etics would  have  attempted  such  a  thing."§  Such 
was  the  pious  comment  of  a  man  who  believed  that 
the  more  he  burned  on  earth  of  that  which  holy 
church  proscribed,  the  less  would  he  himself  burn 
in  hell. 

•"  Hoofd,  td  antea.     Meteren,  torn.  4,  folio  78. 

t  Ibid.     Bor.,  torn.  7,  p.  419. 

t  Jer.  29  : 7,  French  version. 

§  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  1186. 


HEROISM.  081 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

HEEOISM. 

At  Naardeu  Duke  Alva  oversliot  his  mark.  He 
meant  here,  as  elsewhere  to  conquer  by  terror.  But 
this  massacre  had  an  effect  upon  Holland  and  Zea- 
land exactly  the  reverse  of  that  produced  by  the 
sack  of  Mechlin  upon  Flanders  and  Brabant;  of 
that  consequent  upon  the  slaughter  at  Zutpheu,  in 
Guelderlffcad,  Utrecht,  Overyssel,  Groningen,  and 
Friesland.  The  seaboard  was  never  farther  than 
i^w  from  all  thought  of  yielding.  In  the  glass  of 
the  past,  all  saw  that  submission  was  certain  to  undo 
them."  Had  not  Mechlin  surrendered?  and  Zut- 
phen  ?  and  Naarden  ?     Despair  itself  cried.  Fight.* 

But  the  outlook  was  gloomy.  Holland  and 
Zealand — sandbanks  and  floating  islands — were 
absolutel}^  without  allies.  Even  England  stood 
aloof;  for  what  sane  politician  could  believe  that  a 
few  towns,  haK-a-dozen  marshy  isles,  with  a  popu- 
lation to  be  counted  by  thousands,  could  resist  suc- 
cessfully the  first  miUtary  power  in  Europe  ?t 

Besides,  these  scant  towns  were  not  united.  The 
most  important  of  them  and  the  wealthiest,  Amster- 
dam, adhered  to  Spain ;  less,  indeed,  from  inclina- 
tion than  from  necessity,  for  the  governor-general 

*  Stradii,  torn.  2,  i>.  78.     Bor.  and  Hooftl,  ut  antea. 
t  Froude.  Hist,  of  Eug.,  vol.  10,  p.  427. 
2i)* 


G82  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

had  takeD  the  double  precaution  to  keep  ultra  Eo- 
manists  in  the  magistracy,  and  to  billet  a  strong 
garrison  upon  the  cit}'.*  Then,  too,  trade  is  pro- 
verbially selfish,  and  trade  was  the  breath  of  this 
town's  nostrils.  At  this  very  hour  the  fire  of  per- 
secution was  blazing  furiously  in  the  market-place ; 
and,  to  use  the  fine  words  of  Sir  Thomas  Brown, 
"  saints  were  called  to  maintain  their  faith  in 
the  noble  way  of  martyrdom,  serving  God  in  the 

flames."t 

In  the  face  of  these  manifold  discouragements, 
the  Hollanders  continued  their  preparations  for 
resistance.  They  meant,  if  possible,  to  imike  their 
position,  strong  by  nature,  impregnable.  They 
intended  that  every  ford  of  a  canal  should  bs^ 
battle-ground,  that  every  passage  of  a  river  should 
require  an  army  to  force  it,  that  every  siege  should 
demand  a  campaign  to  finish  it. 

From  the  smoking  ruins  of  Naarden  Don  Frede- 
ric led  his  butchers  directly  to  Amsterdam.:|:  Hither, 
after  a  little,  came  Alva  from  Nimeguen.  The  duke 
intended  to  make  Amsterdam  the  base  of  his  attem^^t 
to  reconquer  the  northwest.  It  was  upon  the  adjoin- 
ing city  of  Haarlem  that  he  decided  next  to  swoop. 

A  combination  of  circumstances  influenced  this 
choice.  Haarlem  was  the  most  important  of  the 
Holland  towns  nest  to  Amsterdam.  Its  defences 
were  weak.  It  was  situated  quite  in  the  centre  of 
the  province.  As  Diedrich  Sanoy,  William's  deputy, 

=■'  Watson,  p.- 191.  t  ^^'^<-^^  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  301. 

I  Bor.,  torn.  7,  p.  420,  et  seq. 


HEROISM.  683 

Avas  at  this  time  at  Enkhiiyzen,  in  the  north,  while 
the  prince  himself  was  stationed  at  Delft,  in  the 
south,  its  possession  by  the  Spaniards  would  iso- 
late these  chiefs  and  cut  the  revolted  states  clean 
in  two.* 

Alva  began  operations  by  ordering  the  magis- 
trates of  Amsterdam  to  send  a  deputation  to  the 
menaced  city,  to  inform  the  burghers  of  his  pur- 
pose, exhort  them  promptly  to  submit,  and  pledge 
their  official  word  that  mercy  should  be  the  guer- 
don of  non-resistance.t  The  message  threw  Haar- 
lem into  consternation.  Nine-tenths  of  the  citizens 
were  stanchly  patriotic,  but  they  knew  the  weakness 
of  their  walls — much  less  stout  than  their  hearts; 
they  were  aware  that  all  warlike  |^ores  were  lack- 
ing ;  and  as  they  gazed  on  their  wives  and  children, 
they  doubted.  Taking  advantage  of  the  hesitation, 
three  of  their  magistrates  went  secretly  to  treat 
with  the  duke.  I  In  their  absence,  Wybant  Eip- 
perda,  William's  governor  of  the  town,  convened 
the  citizens  in  the  market-place.  In  a  few  vivid, 
eloquent  phrases  the  dauntless  soldier  pictured  the 
necessity  of  resistance,  affirmed  that  surrender  would 
but  add  Haarlem  to  the  fatal  list  of  dashed-out 
towns,  and  cried :  "  Eemember  Mechlin,  Zutphen, 
Naarden.  Accept  no  terms  from  men  who  have 
shown  themselves  so  cruelly  perfidious.  Much 
more  is  to  be  dreaded  from  submission  than  from  a 

«  Bor.,  torn.  7,  p.  420,  et  seq. 

t  Davies,  Hist,  of  Hoi.,  vol.  1,  p.  595. 

%  Bor.,  ut  aniea.     Hoofd,  torn.  7,  p.  282. 


{iS4:  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

resolute  defence.  If  we  must  die,  let  us  at  least 
fall  sword  iu  hand."" 

These  words  were  decisive.  Eeassured  and 
quite  won  over,  all  shouted :  "  Yes,  yes ;  no  peace 
with  the  Spaniard.  Our  gates  shall  not  swing  open 
to  the  piping  of  the  butclier-dulve."t  Two  of  the 
magistrates — one  had  been  prudent  enough  to  re- 
main in  Amsterdam — were  arrested  on  their  return 
from  the  enemy's  camp,  tried,  convicted,  and  hung 
for  treason.  And  when,  a  few  days  afterwards,  a 
messenger  came  from  Alva  to  urge  a  surrender  at 
discretion,  he  too  was  put  to  death,  as  an  emphatic 
announcement  that  the  city  would  listen  to  no  terms 
of  agreement.:]: 

Orange,  on  jjping  apprized  of  the  heroic  deter- 
mination of  Haarlem,  promised  the  gallant  burgh- 
ers all  possible  assistance,  left  Delft,  and  fixed  his 
residence  at  Sassenheim,  on  the  south  end  of  Haar- 
lem lake,  that  he  might  be  at  hand,  and  despatched 
St.  Aldegonde  to  put  the  municipality  in  possession 
of  the  patriots,  and  to  substitute  the  reformed  for 
the  Eomisli  creed — fresh  evidence  of  the  resolution 
of  the  populace. § 

At  this  juncture  an  event  occurred  which  the 
patriots  construed  into  a  favorable  augury.  Half-a- 
dozen  ships,  managed  by  "  the  beggars  of  the  sea," 
had  recently  been  frozen  up  off  Amsterdam.     Alva 

*  Bor.,  ut  untea.  Hoofd,  torn.  7,  p.  282.  Meteren,  torn.  4, 
folio  78.  t  Hoofd,  iihi  sup.     Bor.,  uU  sup. 

i  Hoofd,  uhi  sup.,  p.  284. 
§  Mendoza,  torn.  7,  p.  173.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  301. 


HEROISM.  G85 

sent  out  upon  the  ice  a  body  of  veteran  musketeers 
to  capture  the  frost-bound  intruders.  The  crews, 
however,  first  cut  a  trench  around  their  httle  fleet,  and 
then,  scudding  out  upon  the  frozen  sea  on  skates, 
joined  battle  with  the  astonished  foe.  Trained  from 
infancy  to  such  sports- — for  in  that  amphibious 
land  all  were  skaters — the  assailed  sped  hither  and 
thither  with  winged  feet,  flew  on  the  foe  with  drawn 
sabres,  and  were  away  again  ere  the  clumsy  and 
slipping  Spaniards  could  take  aim.  In  a  brilliant 
and  unique  skirmish,  they  completely  routed  the 
duke's  veterans,  several  hundred  of  whom  were 
stretched  dead  upon  the  ice.  The  survivors  made 
their  way,  chop-fallen  and  bleeding,  back  to  Am- 
sterdam." 

Within  twenty- four  hours  a  flood  and  a  sudden 
thaw  released  the  patriot  vessels,  which  spread  sail 
and  made  for  Enkhuyzen,  while  a  frost  immediately 
and  strangely  succeeding,  put  God's  veto  upon  pur- 
suit.! Alva  was  surprised  at  these  novel  manoeu- 
vres. "  Sure,"  said  he,  "  't  is  a  thing  never  heard 
of  before  to-day :  a  body  of  arquebusiers  thus  fight- 
ing upon  a  frozen  sea."|  But  the  duke  was  an  apt 
scholar,  even  when  the  foe  were  his  teachers.  He 
at  once  ordered  seven  thousand  pairs  of  skates;  and 
soon  his  men-at-arms  came  to  be  quite  at  home 
upon  the  ice.§ 

This  slippery  combat  was  the  prelude  of  th 
siege.     On  the  10th  of  December,  1572,  Don  Frt 

*  Mcndoza,  ut  aniea.  \  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  428. 

J  Cited  iu  Motley,  ubl  nup,  §  Motley,  viti  sup. 


686  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

eric  marched  through  Amsterdam  gates  with  flying 
colors  to  "chastise"  Haarlem.* 

A  glance  at  the  map  will  give  a  clearer  idea  of 
the  site  of  Haarlem  than  the  most  elaborate  descrip- 
tion. It  lay  just  on  the  eastern  edge  of  that  narrow 
isthmus,  scarcely  five  miles  broad,  wdiicli  unites 
north  and  south  Holland,  and  separates  the  waters 
of  the  Zuyder  Zee  from  the  German  ocean.  Due 
east,  ten  miles  off,  was  Amsterdam,  naturally  divi- 
ded from  its  sister  city  by  an  expanse  of  inland 
water,  but  connected  with  it  by  an  artificial  cause- 
way.t  Directly  south,  at  about  the  same  distance, 
lay  Leyden,  whose  broad  canal  ran  up  to  the  walls 
of  Haarlem,  forming  the  commercial  channel  be- 
tween the  two.  I  The  Haarlem  meer  too,  an  im- 
mense sheet  of  water  covering  seventy  square  miles 
of  surface,  stretched  away  from  Haarlem  almost  to 
Lej'den,  with  which  it  was  connected  by  a  little 
stream.  'Tis  important  to  note  this  topography 
because  it  is  the  hinge  uj)Ou  which  the  whole  siege 
turned. 

As  for  the  city  itself,  it  then  contained  about 
forty  thousand  inhabitants,  and  was  moated  and 
surrounded  by  a  wall,  old,  tottering,  and  of  such 
extent  as  to  require  a  large  force  properly  to  defend 
it.§  It  was  a  sightly  place,  with  broad  avenues 
embroidered  with  lofty  trees ;  houses  singularly 
picturesque,  with  sharply-pointed  gables,  such  as 

*  Ibid.,  23.  431.     Bor.,  Mendoza,  et  al. 

t  Meteren,  Bentivoglio,  Bor.  J  Ibid. 

§  Bor.,  torn.  G,  p.  422.     Meudoza. 


HEEOISM.  687 

we  are  accustomed  to  see  in  old  Flemish  paintings ; 
and  in  its  centre  loomed  the  ancient  church  of  St. 
Bavon,  a  vast  Gothic  structure,  with  a  prodigiously 
high  square  dome,  visible  over  leagues  of  land  and 
sea,  and  seeming  to  gather  the  whole  town  under 
its  sacred  and  protective  wings.* 

Hither,  through  the  December  sleet,  came  the 
Spanish  army,  at  least  thirty  thousand  strong,f  bent 
on  plunder,  thirsty  for  blood,  and  looking  for  an 
easy  victory.  To  oppose  this  force,  Haarlem  had, 
at  the  outset,  but  a  thousand  men-at-arms,  though 
to  this  number  a  reinforcement  of  five  hundred  and 
fifty  Netherlanders  was  shortly  added.:]:  At  no 
time  during  the  siege  could  Wybant  Ripperda  count 
above  four  thousand  eifective  soldiers. § 

In  passing  from  Amsterdam  to  Haarlem,  Don 
Frederic  crossed  the  causeway  between  the  two 
cities,  which  ran  along  the  top  of  a  dyke  and  about 
midway  was  bridged  over  the  channel  which  con- 
nected the  Y,  an  inlet  of  the  Zuyder  Zee,  with  the 
Haarlem  meer.  Here  were  situated  sluices  and 
gauge-posts  for  regulating  the  height  of  the  water — 
sluices  which,  if  opened,  would  inundate  the  adja- 
cent territory.  There  Avas  nothing  like  this  high- 
way in  the  world,  save  that  in  far-away  America, 
at  the  ancient  city  of  Mexico,  through  the  lake  of 
Teztuco,  celebrated,  like  this,  as  the  battle-ground 
of  Spanish  invaders. 

■=■  Motlej',  Tol.  2,  p.  430.      Vide  also  "A  Tour  in  Hollaud,"  etc., 
by  W.  Chambers. 

t  Campaua,  Guer.  di  Fiand. ,  lib.  3,  p.  100.  Motley,  uhi  sup. ,  p.  429. 
I  Daviosj  vol.  1,  i>,  500.  vj  Hoofd,  torn.  7,  p.  285. 


G88  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

On  the  Haarlem  side  of  this  dyke  stood  the  fort 
of  Sparendam,  in  which  Ripperda  had  stationed 
three  hundred  men,  with  orders  to  open  the  sluices 
and  flood  the  country — a  manoeuvre  which  would 
have  proved  fatal  to  the  besiegers  by  cutting  oif 
their  connection  with  Amsterdam,  their  base  of 
operations,  whence  came  all  their  supplies ;  but, 
unhappily,  the  frost,  by  freezing  up  the  sluices,  ren- 
dered this  attempt  fruitless,  and  Don  Frederic's 
advance  escaladed  the  fort  and  took  permanent 
possession  of  this  vital  point.  Then,  sweeping  past 
Sparendam,  the  8j)aniards  soon  reached  Haarlem 
and  completely  encircled  it.* 

Don  Frederic's  initial  labors  were  facihtated  by 
a  dense  frozen  fog  which  hung  over  the  town,  under 
whose  cover  he  stationed  his  troops,  dug  his  trench- 
es, and  arranged  his  artillery.t  The  besieged  too, 
sheltered  by  the  same  icy  curtain,  sent  out  myriads 
of  skaters  and  scores  of  sleds  to  bring  up  from 
Leyden  provisions  and  warlike  materiel  against  their 
time  of  need.J 

The  Spaniard  was  hardly  in  position  ere  he 
learned  that  De  la  March,  under  orders  from 
Orange,  was  advancing  with  three  thousand  men 
to  reinforce  the  scant  garrison  of  Haarlem.  Ro- 
mero, Noircarmes,  and  Bossu  were  detached  with  a 
strong  corps  cTarmee  to  intercept  his  march.  In  the 
middle  of  December  they  met  the  famous  sea  beg- 

*  Mendoza,  torn.  8,  p.  IT'l.    Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  422. 
t  Ibid.     Meteren,  torn.  4,  folio  79. 
t  Hoofd,  torn.  7,  p.  285. 


HEKOISM.  689 

gar,  cut  his  levies  to  pieces,  and  then  hastened  back 
to  camp  to  press  the  siege.* 

On  the  18th  of  December,  1572,  Don  Frederic 
opened  fire  upon  the  cross-gate,  the  principal  en- 
trance of  Haarlem,  and  continued  the  bombard- 
ment through  three  days.  Sadly  shattered  were 
the  rotten  walls ;  but  the  whole  populace  rushed  to 
repair  the  breaches,  fiJHng  the  holes  made  by  the 
Spanish  cannon  with  earth,  stone,  huge  blocks  of 
wood,  and  marble  images  torn  from  the  Eomish 
churches  of  the  city.f  When  the  besiegers  saw  the 
use  to  which  these  sculptured  saints  were  put,  they 
were  filled  with  horror.  Strange,  that  men  should 
entertain  so  much  more  respect  for  breathless  effi- 
gies of  holy  things  than  for  the  bodies  of  their 
fellows — living  images  of  God4 

Supposing  that  he  had  by  this  prolonged  can- 
nonade beaten  a  practicable  breach,  Don  Frederic, 
on  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  December,  gave  orders 
for  an  assault.  Through  the  previous  night,  the 
stir  in  camp  had  given  to  the  burghers  "  dreadful 
note  of  preparation,"  and  they  were  at  their  posts. 
Eomero  led  the  escaladers,  who  rushed  impetuously 
forward,  imagining  the  victory  certain,  and  intent 
less  on  fighting  than  on  pillage.  They  found  no 
Mechlin,  no  Zutphen,  no  Naarden  here.  The  daunt- 
less citizens  met  them  with  an  ardor  equal  to  their 
own.     While  the  great  bell  of  St.  Bavon  clanged 

«  Hoofd,  torn.  7,  p.  28G.     Bor.,  torn.  G,  p.  42i. 

t  Bentivoglio,  torn.  7,  p.  121.     Stratla,  torn.  2,  p.  78 

t  Slotley,  vol.  2,  p.  433,  et  seq. 


690  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

the  alarm  to  bring  up  succor,  those  abeady^n  the 
ramparts  fiercely  grappled  wi'th  the  over-confident 
foe,  upon  whose  heads  they  hurled  live  coals,  boil- 
ing oil,  huge  stones — any  thing,  every  thing  which 
could  maim  or  kill.  Blind,  staggering,  decimated, 
the  astonished  Spaniards  ere  long  turned  back  and 
fled,  leaving  four  hundred  of  their  number  lifeless 
"  i'  the  imminent,  deadly  breach."*  Twenty  of  their 
most  gallant  officers  were  slain,  and  Romero  him- 
self lost  an  eye.f 

This  rude  reception  of  his  "invincibles"  con- 
vinced Don  Frederic  that  his  task  M'as  to  be  no 
halcyon  gala.  He  gave  orders  for  a  more  regular 
investment  of  the  place,  began  to  mine  and  proceed- 
ed more  circumspectly. :|: 

Meantime,  the  prince  of  Orange  neglected  no 
opportunity  to  assist  and  supply  the  wants  of 
the  besieged.  Immediately  after  this  foiled  as- 
sault, he  collected  some  wagon-loads  of  munitions, 
seven  field-pieces,  and  tsvo  thousand  men,  sending 
them  forward  under  charge  of  Batenburg§  ■ —  an 
officer  who  had  recently  replaced  De  la  Marck, 
dismissed  and  sent  out  of  the  province  by  Will- 
iam and  the  estates  on  account  of  his  mutinous 
behavior  and  ferocity.  || 

*  Mendoza,  torn.  9,  p.  178,  et  seq.     Hoofd,  uhi  sup.,  et  alii. 

f  Meudoza  and  Bor. ,  ut  antea.  %  Ibid. 

§  Hoofd,  torn.  7,  p.  290.     Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  431. 

II  De  la  Marck  was  an  able  and  enterprising  partisan,  and  bis 
loss  -was  severely  felt  by  Holland.  But  bis  cruelties,  committed 
cbiefly  on  priests,  bad  become  so  freqi:ent  and  atrocious  as  to 
make  bim  generally  abbori'ed.     No  bonorable  man  could  wink  at 


HEROISM.  691 

Batenburg  was  as  unsuccessful  as  liis  prede- 
cessor. On  nearing  Haarlem,  lie  lost  himself  in  a 
thick  mist,  led  his  men  directly  into  the  camp  of 
the  enemv,  and  was  entrapped  by  his  own  blunder. 
Though  he  with  a  few  score  more  escaped,  his 
force  was  massacred,  his  provisions  stored  in  the 
Spanish  larder.* 

Batenburg's  lieutenant,  De  Koning,  was  among 
those  captured.  Don  Frederic  struck  off  his  head, 
and  shot  it  into  Haarlem  girt  with  these  words: 
"Accept  the  head  of  Philip  Koning,  for  he  came  to 
reinforce  your  city.''  The  exasperated  citizens  re- 
plied by  a  jest  equally  cruel.  Decapitating  eleven 
Spaniards,  they  j)ut  their  heads  into  a  cask,  and  at 
night  rolled  it  into  the  beleaguer's  trenches,  with 
this  direction:  "The  burghers  of  Haarlem  send 
these  ten  heads  to  Duke  Alva  in  payment  of  the 
ten -penny  tax ;  and  since  they  have  been  long  in 
his  debt,  add  the  eleventh  head  as  interest."t 

Varied  by  these  ghastly  pleasantries  the  siege 
went  on.  In  the  Spanish  pay  were  three  thousand 
miners  from  the  bishopric  of  Liege,  whose  business 
it  was  to  sap  the  foundation  of  the  walls  of  Haarlem. 
"  As  fast,  however,  as  Don  Frederic  mined,"  says 

at  his  deeds— deeds  which  placed  him  beside  Alva  and  Vargas. 
Though  often  reproved  by  the  estates,  he  would  not  mend  his  eon- 
duct,  and  at  length  he  came  to  defy  the  authoritj'^  of  the  estates 
and  of  the  prince  himself  to  dictate  his  actions.  Then  he  was  im- 
prisoned ;  but  ultimately,  at  William's  solicitation,  permitted  to 
retire  from  Holland  with  his  property.  Some  years  later,  he  died 
at  Leyden  of  the  bite  of  a  mad  dog.  Vide  Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  425, 
et  seq.  Hoofd,  tom.  7,  pp.  288,  289.  Brandt,  vol.  1,  pp.  300,  302. 
®  Hoofd,  id)i  sup.  f  Ibid.     Strada,  tom.  2,  p.  78. 


cm  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

the  historian,  "  the  citizens  countermined.  Span- 
iard and  Netherlander  met  daily  in  deadly  combat 
within  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  Frequent  and  des- 
perate were  the  struggles  within  gangways  so  nar- 
row that  only  daggers  could  be  used,  so  obscure 
that  the  dim  lanterns  hardly  lighted  the  death- 
stroke.  They  seemed  the  conflicts  not  of  men,  but 
of  evil  spirits.  Nor  were  these  hand-to-hand  bat- 
tles all.  Often  a  shower  of  heads,  limbs,  mutilated 
trunks,  the  mangled  remains  of  hundreds  of  human 
beings,  spouted  from  the  earth  as  from  an  invisible 
volcano.  Still  the  Spaniards  toiled  on  with  undi- 
minished zeal,  and  still  the  besieged,  undismayed, 
delved  below  their  w^orks,  and  checked  their  advance 
by  sword  and  spear  and  horrible  explosions."* 

Don  Frederic  especially  directed  his  exertions 
against  the  Cross-gate,  thinking  that  his  securing 
it  would  open  a  pathway  into  the  town.  Aware  of 
its  weakness,  and  convinced  of  the  impossibility  of 
holding  it,  the  citizens,  secretly,  but  with  great 
celerity,  went  to  work  constructing  a  ravelin  of 
massive  stone  just  behind  it.  All  through  the  bit- 
ter winter  nights  men,  women,  even  little  children, 
labored  at  this  task,  until,  unknown  to  the  foe,  a 
bastion  was  completed  inside  the  menaced,  crum- 
bling portal  of  far  greater  strength  than  the  Cross- 
gate  itself.t 

William  was  in  constant  communication  with  the 

*  Motlej',  vol.  2,  p.  436  ;  after  the  contemporaneous  account  of 
P.  Sterlinex. 

t  Mendoza,  torn,  i,  p.  188.     Bor.,  torn.  6,  pp.  431,  432. 


HEKOISM.  693 

city.  On  the  28tli  of  January,  1573,  one  hundred 
and  seventy  sleds,  laden  with  powder  and  bread — 
that  to  destroy,  and  this  to. support  life — glided 
across  the  frozen  surface  of  the  meer  into  Haarlem, 
under  the  convoy  of  four  hundred  volunteers." 

Three  days  later,  Don  Frederic,  marking  the 
crippled  state  of  the  Cross-gate,  determined  to  make 
a  grand  assault.  "This  time,"  thought  he,  "suc- 
cess is  certain  to  mount  the  walls  with  me."  At 
midnight,  on  the  51st  of  January,  a  strong  band  of 
escaladers  threw  themselves  with  sudden  fury  upon 
the  half-ruined  rampart.  The  sentinels,  though 
taken  by  surprise,  were  not  dismayed.  Toppling 
over  the  scaling-ladders  of  their  assailants,  and  at 
the  same  time  sounding  the  alarm,  they  held  the 
foe  in  play  until  the  burghers  came  to  the  rescue. 
After  a  hard  struggle,  in  which  the  townsfolk  dex- 
terously encircled  the  necks  of  the  Spaniards  with 
hoops  smeared  with  pitch  and  set  on  fire,  and 
pelted  them  with  stones,  with  clubs,  with  fire- 
brands, defending  themselves  with  .musket  and 
sabre,  the  besieged  pretended  to  give  way,  and 
retired  behind  the  new  raveHn.t  At  dawn,  Don 
Frederic  descried  the  Spanish  banner  floating 
above  the  Cross- gate.  Supposing  that  all  was 
over,  he  galloped  up— when  lo,  the  ravelin  IX 

Chagrined  and  angered,  he  returned  to  camp, 
and,  after  matins,  ordered  a  general  assault.  On 
came  the  veteran  battalions  with  steady  ranks  and 

»  Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  432  t  Hoofd,  torn.  7.  p.  293. 

J  Ibiil.,  Mencloza. 


694  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

loud  liuzzas.  They  Lad  just  scrambled  to  the  sum- 
mit of  the  Cross-gate,  and  were  about  to  precipi- 
tate themselves  upon  the  ravelin,  when  a  frightful 
explosion  flung  the  deserted  bastion,  together  with 
what  seemed  a  fourth  part  of  Don  Frederic's  army, 
into  mid  air.*  The  Cross-gate  had  been  under- 
mined by  the  citizens  ere  being  abandoned,  and 
they  had  awaited  this  opportunity  to  blow  it  up.i" 
When  the  smoke  rolled  off,  hundreds  of  mangled 
wretches  were  seen  stretched  upod*the  plain,  whence 
came  distressful  groans  and  fierce  imprecations. 
Aghast  at  the  unforeseen  disaster,  the  survivors 
beat  a  hasty  retreat,  seeking  shelter  behind  their 
outworks.  I 

So  greatly  dismayed  were  many  of  the  Span- 
iards by  the  destructive  failure  of  these  two  elabo- 
rate assaults,  that  they  began  to  clamor  against  the 
continued  prosecution  of  the  siege.  *'  Our  miseries 
are  greater  than  those  of  the  besieged,"  said  they. 
"  On  account  of  the  difiiculties  of  the  communica- 
tion with  Amsterdam,  we  suffer  from  a  perpetual 
scarcity  of  provisions ;  and  the  severity  of  the  season 
slays  more  than  the  sword  of  these  burghers.  We 
shall  never  take  the  town,  or  if  we  do,  it  will  leave 
us  no  army  with  which  to  reduce  other  places."§ 

Don  Frederic  himself  took  this  view,  sending 
Mendoza  to  ask  Alva  to  sign  a  recall.il     The  duke 


•'-•  Mendoza,  toiu.  9,  p.  18-i,  seq.     Bor.,  uhi  sup. 
t  Bor.,  and  Mendoza,  ut  aniea.  J  Ibid. 

§  Bentivoglio,  torn.  7,  p.  12-i,  et  seq.      Mendoza,  torn.  9,  pp. 
ISri.-  ISO.  II  Mendoza,  ubi  sup.,  p.  192. 


HEEOISM.  095 

was  enraged.  "  I  am  sick  and  unable  to  go  in  per- 
son to  the  camp,"  wrote  lie  in  reply;  "but  if  you 
do  not  hold  on  to  success,  consider  yourself  no 
longer  son  of  mine.  Should  you  fall,  I  will  drag 
myself  into  the  saddle ;  and  when  we  have  both 
perished,  your  mother  the  duchess  shall  come  from 
Spain  to  carry  on  the  siege.""-^  This'  answer  was 
decisive.  Don  Frederic  spoke  no  more  of  a  recall. 
Soon  afterwards  he  was  strongly  reinforced,  and 
giving  up  all  hope  of  taking  Haarlem  by  assault,  he 
determined  to  starve  it  into  submission. f 

With  the  opening  of  spring  the  asj)ect  of  affairs 
changed.  Alva  had  been  busy  all  the  winter  build- 
ing a  fleet  at  Amsterdam.  Towards  the  end  of 
February,  when  the  ice  broke  up,  his  admiral, 
Count  Bossu,  launched  these  vessels  in  the  Haar- 
lem meer,  and  saihng  to  the  south,  severed  all  com- 
munication with  Leydeu,  whence  the  besieged  drew 
all  their  supplies  of  men  and  stores. :|: 

In  imitation  of  this  manoeuvre,  the  prince  of 
Orange  attempted,  unsuccessfully,  to  cut  asunder 
Amsterdam  and  Don  Frederic's  camp.§  Foiled  in 
this,  he  next  got  a  patriot  flotilla  on  the  meer,  with 
which  he  hoped  to  chase  off  Bossu. ||  After  much 
preliminary  skirmishing,  the  hostile  fleets  joined 
battle,  and  for  the  first  and  last  time  throughout 
the  war,!"  "the  beggars  of  the  sea"  were  completely 

Mendoza,  uU  sup.,  p.  192.  \  Ibid. 

Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  43G. 
§  Hoofd,  torn.  8,  p.  300.     Bor.,  torn.  C,  p.  437. 
II  Bor.,  wilt  sup.    Hoofd,  xibi  sup.,  pp.  306,  307. 
IT  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  73. 


696  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION, 

defeated — themselves  cliased  off  by  Bossu,*  who 
thus  became  absokite  master  of  the  lake. 

This  untoward  event  reduced  Haarlem  to  the 
verge  of  despah\  Men,  money,  provisions  began 
to  fail.  The  inhabitants  were  put  on  short  alloAv- 
ance— a  pound  of  bread  a  day  for  each  man,  a  malt 
cake  for  the  women  and  children. f  Yet  they  strug- 
gled on  as  vigorously  and  indefatigably  as  at  the 
outset.  Nor  were  they  content  merely  to  hold 
their  walls.  Sallies  were  of  nightly  occurrence. 
Once,  a  thousand  of  the  besieged  drove  in  the 
pickets  of  the  beleaguerer,  burned  three  hundred 
tents,  took  seven  pieces  of  artillery,  gutted  the 
camp  larder,  slew  eight  hundred  of  the  foe ;  and 
then,  lighted  home  by  the  blaze  of  Don  Frederic's 
fired  outposts,  returned  to  Haarlem  with  a  loss  of 
but  four  men,  to  erect  on  the  ramparts  a  colossal 
funeral  mound,  on  which  was  this  inscription,  writ 
in  letters  which  might  have  been  read  from  Am- 
sterdam :  "  Haarlem  is  the  graveyard  of  the  Span- 
iards.":}: 

Even  the  women  became  soldiers.  Kanan  Has- 
selaar,  a  widow  of  rank  and  fortune  and  unsjDotted 
fame,  organized  a  corps  of  three  hundred  matrons, 
who,  retaining  the  dress  of  their  sex,  labored  at  all 
hours  with  spade  and  pickaxe  in  repairing  breaches, 
with  sword  and  matchlock  in  defending  the  walls, 
and  figured  too  in  most  of  the  nocturnal  sallies,  no 
less  to  the  encouragement  of  the  burghers  than  to 

«  Bor.,  and  Hoofd,  ubi  siij).  f  Ibid. 

X  Hoofd,  torn.  8,  p.  302. 


HEROISM.  G97 

the  admiration  of  the  besiegers.*  Knowing  the  fate 
which  awaited  them  should  the  city  fall,  they  pre- 
ferred death  to  dishonor — kindred  in  this  to  the 
heroines  of  all  ages.  "These  townsfolks,"  wrote 
Don  Frederic,  "  do  as  much  as  the  best  soldiers  in 
the  world  could  do."t  And  Alva  assured  Philip, 
"Never  was  a  place  defended  with  such  skill  and 
bravery  as  Haarlem.":]: 

Meantime,  famine,  the  Spaniard's  most  potent 
ally,  marched  into  town ;  starvation,  which  no  hero- 
ism could  push  out,  stood  on  the  threshold  of  each 
house. §  The  burghers,  powerless  against  this  foe, 
did  their  utmost  to  provoke  assaults  from  the  be- 
siegers, hoping  to  forget  the  cravings  of  hunger  in 
incessant  combats.  But  though  they  put  their  pris- 
oners to  death  in  sight  of  Don  Frederic's  camp, 
appeared  upon  the  walls  decked  out  in  the  gor- 
geous robes  of  the  Komish  church,  and  offered 
every  imaginable  insult  to  the  effigies  of  all  the 
saints  in  the  calendar,!!  that  wily  soldier  was  not  to 
be  tempted  into  another  escalade.  He  knew  his 
advantage,  knew  from  experience  the  fatality  of 
measuring  swords  with  despair,  knew  that  he  had 
but  to  maintain  his  position,  and  let  starvation 
conquer  for  his  decimated  army. 

Under  this  policy,  the  sufferings  of  the  citizens 

became  each  day  more  terrible.     As  the  month  of 

•~'  Meteren,  torn.  4,  folio  79.    Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  74. 
f  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  1217. 
t  Ibid.,  p.  1198. 

§  Hoofd,  torn.  8,  p.  309.     Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  437. 
II  Strada,  nJA  sup. 
Dutch  Rcl.  o'l 


698  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

June  wore  away,  tliey  were  reduced  to  subsist  upon 
rape  and  hemp  seed ;  then  upon  the  flesh  of  dogs, 
cats,  and  vermin,  and  finally  the  tanned  hides  of 
oxen  and  horses  were  greedily  devoured.- 

All  this  time  Orange  was  doing  what  it  was  in 
his  power  to  do.  By  means  of  carrier-pigeons  he 
still  encouraged  the  besieged  to  hold  out,  and  com- 
municated to  them  his  various  plans  to  relieve  their 
wants.  One  day  a  couple  of  these  winged  posts, 
tired  with  flying,  lighted  upon  a  tent  in  Don  Fred- 
eric's camp.  A  soldier,  ignorant  of  the  stratagem, 
shot  one  of  them  for  sport,  Avhen  the  mystery  of  the 
letters  was  discovered.  After  this  accident,  no 
pigeon  could  fly  over  the  beleaguerer  without  im- 
minent danger  of  death,  and  thus  many  of  Will- 
iam's projects  became  known  at  the  wrong  head- 
quarters, t 

Early  in  July,  the  prince,  thinking  that  while 
there  was  any  hope  there  was  every  hope,  got  afoot 
one  more  expedition.  Troops  there  were  none,  but 
Delft,  Eotterdam,  Gouda — a  host  of  friendly  towns, 
volunteered  to  equip  their  train-bands  for  the  pur- 
pose of  relieving  Haarlem.^  Orange  announced 
his  intention  to  head  this  essay  in  person.§  The 
estates,  however,  would  not  permit  it.  "  Your  life 
is  of  more  value  than  many  cities,"  cried  all ;  "  if 
you  fall,  we  are  indeed  undone."||  With  great  reluc- 
tance William  consented  to  intrust  the  conduct  of 

='-  Hoofd  and  Bor.,  ubi  sup.  \  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  74. 

%  Hoofd,  torn.  8,  p.  310.     Bor.,  torn.  G,  p.  439. 

§  Hoofd,  uhi  sup,,  i>.  311.  ||  Ibid.     Bor.,  iihi  sup. 


HEKOISM.  691) 

the  expedition  to  Batenberg,  who  soon  after  set 
out  with  five  thousand  men — undisciplined  and  ill- 
armed  levies.*  But  alack,  the  whole  Spanish  army 
fell  upon  him  just  beneath  the  Haarlem  bastions, 
and  he  himself,  together  with  the  major  part  of  his 
raw  force  made  but  a  breakfast  for  Don  Frederic, 
all  being  slain.f 

It  was  the  beginning  of  the  end.  The  prince's 
resources  were  exhausted;  those  of  the  burghers 
had  long  ago  touched  the  saddest  bottom.  "  Well, 
then,"  said  the  citizens,  "  we  can  die  but  once.  Let 
us  form  ourselves  into  a  square,  place  our  wives  and 
children  in  the  centre,  fire  the  town,  and  sally  forth 
to  cut  our  way  through  the  Spanish  camp,  or  per- 
ish in  the  attempt.":]: 

This  heroic  idea  was  of  a  piece  with  the  defence ; 
and  when  Don  Frederic  was  told  of  it,  as  he  soon 
was,  he  feared  that  the  fruits  of  his  victory  would 
escape  him.  Accordingly,  he  sent  to  offer  terms  to 
the  besieged,  solemnly  assuring  them  that  ample 
forgiveness  should  attend  surrender.§  The  burgh- 
ers were  incredulous — had  they  not  memories?  But 
a  large  portion  of  the  garrison,  the  Germans  espe- 
cially, favored  submission.il  On  the  12th  of  July, 
1573,  after  a  resistance  of  above  seven  months,  a 
formal  surrender  was  signed.  Alva  granted  an  am- 
nesty to  all  but  fifty-seven  of  the  citizens,  agreed  to 

-  Bor.,  torn.  G,  p.  4i0. 

t  Ibid.     Meteren,  torn.  4,  folio  80,  et  alii. 

X  Bor.,  vJji  sup.    Mendoza,  torn.  9,  p.  204. 

§  Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  413.     Mendoza,  ut  aniea,  et  cd.         ||  Ibid. 


700  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

dismiss  the  Germans  mill  armed,  and  commuted  tlie 
plunder  for  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  guil- 
ders*— honorable  terms  had  they  been  observed. 

But  the  Spaniards  had  no  sooner  passed  Haar- 
lem gates  than  they  again  demonstrated  the  ab- 
surdity of  reliance  on  their  word.  Pillage  they  did 
not,  because  the  promised  moneys  were  not  in  town ; 
but  murder  was  a  safe  pastime.  Eipperda,  Lance- 
lot van  Brederode — all  the  heroes  of  the  long  de- 
fence, were  at  once  beheaded.t  Within  the  space 
of  eight  days  after  the  surrender,  two  thousand  per- 
sons were  butchered  in  cold  blood.J 

Such  v>^as  the  fate  of  Haarlem.  But  the  victory 
was  not  cheaply  bought.  Many  of  his  ablest  offi- 
cers, and  thirteen  thousand  of  his  choicest  vete- 
rans§ — this  was  the  price  which  Alva  paid  for  the 
stout  old  town. 

*  Bor.,  and  Hoofd,  uhi  sup.,  et  alii 

t  Ibid.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  pp.  303,  304. 

I  Campana,  Giier.  di  Fiand.,  lib.  4,  p.  112.  Hoofd,  torn.  8,  p. 
315,  et  seq.,  et  al. 

§  Hoofd,  uhi  siq).  Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  444.  Compare  Meudoza, 
torn.  9,  p.  20G,  and  Cabrera,  torn.  10,  p.  759.  Strada,  torn.  2, 
p.  70. 


THE  HOEIZON  BRIGHTENS.  701 

CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 

THE   PATEIOT   HORIZON  BRIGHTENS. 

The  capture  of  Haarlem  caused  little  exultation 
in  the  Spanish  camp ;  all  looked  upon  it  as  a  Cad- 
mean  victory.  Alva  was  a  "  pendulum  betwixt  a 
smile  and  tear."  He  was  inside  the  town;  but  at 
what  woeful  cost  of  men  and  means  and  time !  If 
seven  months,  thirty  thousand  soldiers,  and  a  dead- 
list  thirteen  thousand  long  were  requisite  to  the 
taking-  the  weakest  place  in  Holland,  how  many 
months,  how  many  men,  how  many  lives  must  be 
sacrificed  in  reducing  other  and  stouter  cities?  in 
conquering  the  whole  pro^sdnce  ?  As  the  glum  duke 
essayed  to  make  the  calculation,  these  burghers,  of 
whom  he  had  been  wont  to  say,  "I  wiU  smother 
them  in  their  own  butter,"  rose  many  degrees  in  his 
estimation.  It  now  seemed  as  if  Spain,  and  both 
the  Indies  besides,  would  be  beggared  before  half 
these  plebeian  heads  could  be  got  inside  the  firkin. 
Already  twenty-five  milHons  of  florins  had  been  sent 
from  Madrid  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  captain* 
who  had  promised  to  make  gold  run  in  a  current  a 
yard  deep  from,  not  to,  the  Netherlands — twenty- 
.  five  millions  of  florins  in  addition  to  what  immensQ 
sums  had  been  dug  from  the  mine  of  confiscation 
and  got  from  the  imposition  of  gigantic  taxes.'!' 

*  Motley,  vol.  2,  jj.  4GG.  t  Il^iii- 


702  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

Yet  the  lagoons  still  lield  out;  and  Alva,  like  the 
daughters  of  the  horse-leech,  was  always  crying; 
"  Give,  give." 

Somewhat  daunted  by  these  facts,  the  duke  de- 
termined to  do  by  his  pen  what  he  had  been  unable 
to  achieve  by  force  of  arms.  On  the  26th  of  July, 
1573,  he  issued  a  monitory  circular  in  the  form  of 
a  royal  address.  "  Notwithstanding  your  manifold 
crimes" — so  ran  the  text  of  this  appeal  to  these 
"men  of  butter"— "his  majesty  still  seeks,  like  a 
hen  calling  her  chickens,  to  gather  you  all  under 
the  maternal  wing."  But  in  the  next  line  this  bill- 
ing and  cooing  is  followed  by  an  outburst  of  char- 
acteristic brutality:  "If  ye  disregard  this  offer  of 
mercy  as  heretofore,  then  understand  that  there  is 
no  rigor,  no  cruelty  so  great,  but  you  may  expect  it. 
Waste,  starvation,  the  sabre  shall  utterly  depopu- 
late the  land,  and  cause  it  to  be  occupied  again  by 
strangers."" 

But  in  this  case  the  pen  was  not  mightier  than 
the  SAVord.  Threats  and  banislmients  were  alike 
laughed  to  scorn  by  the  incorrigible  "  men  of  but- 
ter." 

While  Alva  still  snarled  under  this  failure,  a 
mishap  occurred  which  yoked  alarm  to  his  chagrin. 
The  soldiery,  disappointed  in  their  expectation  of 
pillaging  Haarlem,  sore  from  their  recent  losses, 
^nd  exasperated  by  the  non-payment  of  their  long 
arrears,  rose  in  sudden,  furious  mutiny.t  Quarter- 
n's Bor.,  torn.  G,  pp.  445,  44G. 
t  Ibid.,  p.  444.     Hoofd,  torn.  8,  p.  317. 


THE  HORIZON  BEIGHTENS.  703 

ing  themselves  at  will  upon  tlie  wretclied  citizens  of 
Haarlem,  their  Kcense  and  greedy  rage  speedily  com- 
pleted the  spoliation  of  the  town.*  Don  Frederic, 
the  duke  himself,  the  most  strict  of  disciplinarians, 
remonstrated,  promised,  threatened  in  vain.  In» 
deed,  in  the  teeth  of  their  efforts,  the  insubordina- 
tion spread  from  Holland  into  all  the  other  states. 
Outlasting  the  entire  month  of  August,  the  outbreak 
was  only  quelled  in  the  end  by  the  intercession  of 
Chiappino  Vitelli,  the  pet  of  the  army,  who,  with 
much  ado,  prevailed  upon  the  mutineers  to  accept 
thirty  crowns  apiece,  and  relapse  into  obedient 
automata.f 

This  mutiny  was  regarded  by  the  Hollanders  as 
a  God-given  opportunity.  "While  Alva  was  occu- 
pied in  composing  domestic  jars,  they  had  space  in 
which  to^ecover  from  the  half-desj)air  into  which 
they  had  been  thrown  by  the  successful  leaguer  of 
Haarlem.  Orange  had  not  lost  his  serenity.  He 
had  suffered,  but  he  took  that  to  1*  his  lot.  His 
faith  nothing  could  shake.  "  I  had  hoped  to  send 
you  better  news,"  wrote  he  to  Count  Louis  just 
after  the  capitulation ;  "  nevertheless,  since  it  has 
pleased  the  Allwise  to  order  otherAvise,  we  must 
conform  ourselves  to  the  Divine  will;  but  I  take 
God  to  witness  that  I  did  all  within  my  power  to 
succor  the  fallen  city."|  A  few  daj^s  afterwards  he 
wrote  again,  to  inform  his  brother  that  the  Zealand- 

'--  Bor.,  torn.  5,  p-  Hi.    Hoofd,  torn.  8,  p.  317. 

f  Corresp.  de  PhilipiDe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  12(iO. 

f  Groen  v.  Prinst,  Archives,  etc.,  torn.  4,  p.  175. 


704  THE  DUTCH  EEFOBMATION. 

ers  had  captured  the  castle  of  Eammeldns,  a  famous 
fortress  ou  the  island  of  Walcheren.  "  I  hope," 
added  he,  "  that  this  will  reduce  the  pride  of  our 
enemies,  who,  since  the  surrender  of  Haarlem,  have 
seemed  to  think  that  they  were  about  to  swallow  us 
alive."* 

It  was  understood  throughout  the  province  that 
Alckmaar,  a  town  in  North  Holland,  was  to  be  Alva's 
next  point  of  attack.  The  inhabitants  of  that  sec- 
tion were  uneasy  at  the  prospect  of  the  unequal 
combat,  and  Diedrich  Sanoy,  who  was  in  command 
there,  wrote  William  that  many  were  preparing  to 
fly.  "  Nothing,"  said  he,  "  but  a  hope  that  your 
princely  grace  has  formed  an  alliance  with  some 
powerful  potentate  stays  the  emigration.  If  this 
be  indeed  so,  I  pray  you  let  me  know,  that  I  may 
publish  it."t  » 

"  Be  comforted,"  rejilied  William,  in  a  strain  of 
the  grandest  eloquence.  "  Though  God  hath  per- 
mitted the  town  of  Haarlem  to  suffer,  men  ought  not 
therefore  to  renounce  or  discredit  his  divine  word. 
Will  any  maintain  from  this  that  Jehovah's  arm  is 
shortened?  Are  his  church  and  people  ruined  by 
the  fall  of  one  city  ?  Charity  excites  pity  for  those 
of  Haarlem ;  but  the  blood  of  martyrs  is  the  seed 
of  the  church.  Therefore  the  people  of  this  state, 
remembering  the  enemy's  intention,  and  observing 
that  he  trampleth  on  all  laws  human  and  divine, 
should  the  more  courageously  and  steadily  appear 

*  Groeu  v.  Priust.,  Arcliives,  etc.,  torn.  4,  p.  171. 
t  Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  4:i&,  et  seq. 


THE  HORIZON  BRIGHTENS.  705 

in  defence  of  this  so  righteous  cause.  You  ask  if  I 
have  conckided  any  alliance  with  other  princes. 
Yea,  and  thrice  yea.  I  have  made  a  strict  alliance 
with  the  Prince  of  princ.es — with  Him  Avho  never 
forsakes  those  who  trust  in  him.  He  will  assuredly, 
at  the  last,  confound  both  his  and  our  opponents."* 

By  these  words  the  godly  prince  touched  that 
deep  chord  of  enthusiasm  which  had  lain  unstrung 
till  now,  causing  it  to  vibrate  in  "  a  seven-fold  cho- 
rus of  halleluias  and  harping  symphonies."  The 
voice  of  complaint  was  hushed.  All  sprang  up  to 
renew  the  struggle.  Everywhere  stores  were  col- 
lected, ammunition  was  heaped  up,  fortifications 
were  repaired  and  strengthened.  Orange  "  smote 
the  rock  of  the  national  resources,  and  abundant 
streams  of  revenue  gushed  forth.  He  touched  the 
corpse  of  public  credit,  and  it  sprang  upon  its  feet." 
The  seizure  of  ecclesiastical  property,  the  sale  of 
licenses  and  permits  to  trading-vessels — the  most 
unpopular  measures  were  acquiesced  in  without  a 
murmur  :i'  had  not  William  affirmed  that  God  him- 
self demanded  the  sacrifice  ? 

Meantime  Don  Frederic,  having  got  his  men 
once  more  in  hand,  moved  forward,  sixteen  thou- 
sand strong,  to  the  siege  of  Alckmaar.  Having,  by 
the  capture  of  Haarlem,  split  Holland  in  two,  it  now 
remained  to  subjugate  the  north  end  of  the  prov- 
ince ;  then  the  conquest  of  the  south  would  com- 
plete the  work.     On  the  21st  of  August,  1573,  the 

*  Bor.,  torn.  C,  p.  447,  el  seq.  ■  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  304. 
t  Davies,  vol.  1,  p.  G03. 

30* 


706  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

place  Avas  formally  invested — so  closely  girt  that,  in 
in  Alva's  phrase,  "  it  was  impossible  for  a  sparrow 
to  enter  or  go  out  of  the  city."*  This  time  the  duke 
meant  to  make  clean  work.  Nettled  by  the  con- 
temptuous rejection  of  his  pacific  overtures,  he  wrote 
Phihp :  "  If  I  take  Alckmaar,  I  am  resolved  not  to 
leave  a  single  creature  alive ;  the  knife  shall  be  put 
to  every  throat.  Since  the  example  of  Haarlem  has 
proved  useless,  perhaps  an  example  of  cruelty  will 
bring  the  other  cities  to  their  senses." f 

Alva  felt  certain  of  the  speedy  fall  of  the  men- 
aced town.  Within  its  walls  there  was  a  garrison 
of  but  eight  hundred  men,  supplemented  by  thirteen 
hundred  raw  and  ill-armed  burghers — twenty-one 
^  hundred  in  all,  to  oppose  Don  Frederic's  sixteen 
thousand  veterans.:!^ 

Don  Frederic,  like  his  father,  was  bent  on  ma- 
king short  w^ork  of  the  siege.  On  the  18th  of  Sep- 
tember he  opened  fire,  continued  the  bombardment 
for  twelve  hours,  knocked  numberless  holes  in  the 
walls,  and  then  ordered  a  grand  assault. §  The  esca- 
lade, gallantly  attempted  upon  two  sides  at  once, 
was  as  gallantly  met.  Here,  as  before  at  Haarlem, 
unslaked  lime,  molten  lead,  boiling  water,  tarred 
and  burning  hoops,  were  used  to  repel  the  foe; 
and  as  fast  as  any  mounted  the  ramparts,  they 
were  faced  by  the  unflinching  garrison,  and  hnrled 
bleeding,  lifeless,  back  into  the  gaping  moat.     The 

*  Corresp.  de  Philippe  11. ,  torn.  2,  p.  126i.  f  Ibid. 

t  Hoofd,  torn.  8,  p.  321.     Wagenaer. 

§  Hoofd,  uhl  Slip.,  p.  323.    Mendoza,  torn.  10,  ]).  217,  ei  seq. 


THE  HORIZON  BRIGHTENS.  707 

whole  populace  swarmed  to  the  walls ;  women  and 
little  girls,  never  shrinking  from  the  fight  even 
where  it  was  most  deadly,  passed  to  and  fro,  sup- 
plying their  husbands,  brothers,  fathers  with  stones, 
and  burning  missiles,  and  loaded  muskets,  encour- 
aging their  defenders  by  the  unceasing  labors  of 
devoted  womanhood.*  Once,  twice,  thrice  was  the 
attack  repulsed ;  once,  twice,  thrice  did  the  enraged 
assailants  return  to  the  assault,  until,  convinced 
that  success  was  impossible,  and  disheartened  by. 
the  fall  of  night,  they  fled  back  to  their  trenches, 
leaving  a  thousand  of  their  dead  to  choke  up  the 
breaches.f 

"  As  I  looked  down  into  the  city,"  said  one  of  the 
Spauiards  who  had  mounted  the  ramparts  for  an 
instant,  only  to  be  plunged  headlong  from  the  bat- 
tlements, "  I  saw  neither  helmet  nor  harness ;  only 
some  plain-looking  people  dressed  like  fishermen.":]; 
Such  were  the  men  who  had  just  foiled  the  elaborate 
assault  of  veterans  trained  to  war  in  the  school  of 
the  duke  of  Alva.§ 

After  a  rest  of  twelve  or  fifteen  hours,  Don 
Frederic  reopened  fire  upon  Alckmaar  ;  after  which 
he  again  ordered  an  assault.  But  the  "invinci- 
bles"  had  had  enough  of  it.  When  their  ofiicers 
shouted  "form,"  when  the  bugles  sounded  the 
charge,  not  a  soldier  stirred.  Numbers  of  them 
were  sabred  by  their  infuriated  captains :  in  vain, 

*  Hoofd,  p.  324.  f  Ibicl.     Comj)are  Mendoza,  uU  sup. 

%  Hoofd  ;  cited  iu  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  468. 
§  Motley,  ubi  sup. 


708  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

the  rest  were  neither  to  be  coaxed  nor  driven  to  the 
wall.* 

The  burghers  soon  heard  of  this,  gleaning  the 
full  particulars  from  Jeronimo  de  Arcibu,  a  Spaniard 
whom  they  took  in  a  sally.  This  prisoner  made 
other  disclosures  on  being  promised  his  hfe — a 
promise  which  was  not  kept,  to  the  displeasure  of 
many,  who  were  of  the  opinion  that  pledges  given 
even  to  a  foeman  ought  sacredly  to  be  observed. 
-On  being  led  out  to  die,  Arcibu  beg'ged  hard  for 
a  reprieve.  "Spare  my  life,"  cried  he,  "and  I  too 
will  believe  in  the  devil  whom  you  v»^orship."t  A 
child  of  the  mass,  he  really  thought  that  all  heretics 
made  a  god  of  Satan,  every  man  of  them  crying, 
"  Evil,  be  thou  my  good." 

Disappointed  in  his  hope  of  escalading  Alck- 
maar,Don  Frederic  prepared  to  starve  it  into  submis- 
sion, esteeming  the  siege  another  Haarlem.  But  one 
day  his  pickets  intercepted  a  letter  from  Orange  to 
the  besieged,  in  which  the  prince  affirmed  his  pur- 
pose to  succor  the  town  by  opening  the  sluices  and 
laying  the  adjacent  lands  under  water.|  The  har- 
vests would  be  submerged,  much  property  would  be 
destroyed,  many  lives  might  be  lost ;  but  the  Span- 
iard would  be  driven  either  to  decamj)  or  to  go 
down  before  the  deluge. 

Don  Frederic  was  startled  by  the  imminence  of 
the  peril.     For  some  weeks,  the  heavy  autumnal 

«  Hoofcl,  torn.  8,  p.  324. 

f  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  305.     Hoofd,  uh'i  sup. 

X  Hoofd,  uhi  sup.,  p.  325.     Mcudozft,  torn.  10,  p.  219,  et  seq. 


THE  HORIZON  BRIGHTENS.  709 

rains  had  been  falling  ;  his  camp  was  already  a 
puddle  ;  his  legions  were  insubordinate ;  and  now 
he  was  menaced  by  a  flood,  certain  to  wash  him 
out  of  existence.  Menaced?  nay,  the  work  had 
been  commenced.  Driven  by  a  strong  northwest 
wind,  vast  bodies  of  water  were  at  that  moment 
pouring  through  the  opened  sluices,  splashing 
through  and  running  over  the  surrounding  net- 
work of  canals  —  hurried  towards  Alckmaar  by 
every  breeze.* 

•  Don  Frederic  waited  no  longer.  Breaking  up  his 
camp  on  the  8th  of  October,  seven  weeks  after  the 
investment  of  the  town,  he  fled  rather  than  retreat- 
ed to  Amsterdam,  rejoining  his  father,  and  putting 
the  troops,  exhausted  and  demorahzed,  into  winter 
quarters.! 

Nor  did  Alva,  at  this  juncture,  fare  better  at  sea 
than  on  the. land.  For  some  time,  a  patriot  flotilla 
had  floated  off  the  mouth  of  the  river  V,  blocka- 
ding Amsterdam,  to  revenge  the  assistance  lent  the 
Spaniard  by  its  burghers  in  the  leaguer  of  Haar- 
lem. So  closely  was  the  harbor  watched,  that  the 
smallest  craft  might  not  scud  through  the  fleet  into 
or  from  the  Zuyder  Zee,  whether  inward  or  outward 
bound.:j:  The  embargo  created  great  discontent  on 
the  Amsterdam  quays,  and  was  a  sad  blow  at  com- 
merce, the  life  of  a  trading  town. 

The  duke,  provoked  at  the  effrontery  of  the  sea 

*  Hoofd  and  Mendoza,  ut  antea. 

t  Ibid.     Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  1280.    Metereu. 

JBor.,  Hoofd. 


710  THE  DUTCH  KEFOBMATION. 

beggars  in  blockading  Amsterdam  while  he  was 
himself  in  command,  equipped  a  squadron  with  the 
utmost  expedition,  and  sent  Bossu  to  chase  them  off. 
On  the  11th  of  October,  1573,  the  Spanish  admiral 
bore  down  upon  the  patriot  armada,  cleared  for 
action,  his  guns  grinning  through  the  open  port- 
holes. Dirkzoon,  the  Dutch  commander,  wanted 
no  second  invitation  to  engage,  and  a  broadside 
from  his  galley  commenced  the  action.  The  two 
fleets  were  about  equal  in  number — twenty-five  or 
thirty  on  each  side;"  but  the  Spanish  vessels  were 
the  larger,  and  carried  heavier  cannon. f  The  en- 
gagement was  sharp  and  prolonged,  outlasting 
eight  hours.  For  a  while  the  scales  of  battle  hung 
even  ;  but  at  last  the  Hollanders  closed  with  the  foe, 
carried  several  of  the  royalist  ships  by  the  board, 
sank  two  of  them,  stranded  three  more,  which 
were  eventually  taken,  and  dispersed  the  rest.:}: 

Bossu  long  disdained  to  yield,  fighting  his  ves- 
sel— which,  with  some  bravado,  he  styled  "  The 
Inquisition" — until  every  one  of  the  thirty-two 
guns  was  dismounted,  and  the  crew,  three  hundred 
strong  at  the  outset,  was  reduced  to  fifteen  men ; 
then,  conscious  that  he  had  done  his  utmost  to  re- 
deem the  day,  he  struck  his  colors  and  gave  up  his 
sword,  being  carried  by  the  victorious  gueux  into 
Horn.§ 

?>  Motley,  vol.  2,  pp.  490,  491. 

f  Hoofd,  torn.  8,  p.  326,  ei  seq.     Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  455. 

X  Ibid.,  et  seq.  '■ 

§  Ibid.     Meudoza,  torn.  10,  p.  214.     Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  81. 


THE  HORIZON  BRIGHTENS.  711 

This  signal  victory,  coming,  as  it  did,  close  upon 
the  repulse  of  the  Spaniard  at  Alckmaar,  made 
Holland  jubilant ;  and  when,  in  the  midst  of  the 
rejoicing,  news  came  that  William's  partisans  had 
surprised  Gertruydenberg,  which  commanded  the 
Meuse  and  gave  the  patriots  a  free  entrance  into 
Brabant,*  it  seemed  as  if  the  blessings  invoked  by 
the  prince  upon  his  country  had  been  dropped  from 
the  pitying  heavens.  A  feeling  of  deep,  religious 
gratitude  to  God,  who  had,  as  in  the  days  of  the 
psalmist,  "  with  his  arm  redeemed  his  people,"  suc- 
ceeded the  first  outburst  of  gratulation.  The  estates, 
giving  official  voice  to  this  emotion,  hastened  to 
appoint  a  day  of  solemn  thanksgiving,  which  was 
duly  observed  in  all  the  churches  of  the  prov- 
ince.t 

This  succession  of  disasters  visibly  affected 
Alva.  "  Injuries,"  wrote  Granvelle  to  a  client  who 
had  complained  to  him  of  the  neglect  with  which 
the  king's  best  friends  were  treated  at  Brussels ; 
"injuries,  like  pills,  should  be  swallowed  without 
ckewing,  that  we  may  not  taste  their  bitterness  "|-— 
a  noble  maxim  if  the  motive  had  been  noble.  But 
the  duke  was  neither  sufiiciently  Spartan  nor  suf- 
ficiently sycophantic  to  gvilp  down  these  reverses 
without  making  a  Avry  face.  He  had  been  about  to 
sit  down  to  the  siege  of  Leyden,  which  he  meant  to 
preface  by  the  executioji  of  St.  Aldegondc — that 

*  "Watson,  p.  211.    Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  305. 

-j-  Watson,  uhi  sup. 

J  Lavesque.  Mem.  de  Granvelle,  torn.  2,  p.  9G. 


712  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

eminent  personage,  master  of  the  deepest  mysteries 
of  state,  having  been  taken  recently  by  his  forces 
at  Maeslandsluis* — when  this  news  came  to  post- 
pone the  siege,  and  also  to  stop  the  proposed 
murder;  William  sending  the  duke  word  that  what- 
ever measure  was  dealt  out  to  St.  Aldegonde,  sliould 
be  requited  to  Bossu.f 

While  the  patriot  arms  were  thus  crowned  with 
unwonted  triumph,  the  prince's  j)eu  was  also  active, 
Alva,  unable  to  obtain  any  farther  remittances  from 
Spain,  and  equally  unable  to  exact  the  twentieth 
and  tenth  pennies,  was  driven  at  this  crisis  to  the 
irksome  and  now  hazardous  measure  of  convening 
the  states-general  of  the  provinces,  in  order  to  ob- 
tain from  them  the  vote  of  a  subsidy  with  which  to 
carry  on  the  war.:j:  The  national  deputies  assem- 
bled in  Brussels  early  in  September,  1573  ;§  where- 
upon Orange,  in  his  own  name  and  in  that  of  the 
estates  of  Holland  and  Zealand,  drew  up  and  de- 
spatched to  them  an  earnest  exhortatory  manifesto. 
"  The  Spaniards  came,"  said  he,  "  to  reduce  us,  our 
wives,  our  children,  into  vassalage.  Worst  of  all, 
they  expect  us  to  be  accountable  to  them  for  our 
souls  and  consciences,  over  which  they  wish  to 
tyrannize  at  pleasure;  though  some  among  them 
hardly  know  that  there  is  a  God  in  heaven,  and 
have  scarce  ever  heard  of  the  Son  of  God,  our  only 

"  Cor.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  1283.    Meteren,  torn.  4,  fol.  85. 
t  Hoofd,  torn.  8,  p.  331.  -. 

X  Bor.,  torn.  G,  p.  459.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  305. 
§  Ibid. 


THE  HORIZON  BRIGHTENS.  713 

Saviour.  Yet  these  pagans  assume  to  object  to  our 
faith  and  practice,  seeking,  under  that  pretence, 
to  enslave  us  to  their  Inquisition,  used  in  Spain 
against  Moors,  Jews,  and  apostate  Christians. 
Now,  because  we  will  not  bow  the  knee  to  Baal, 
Alva  endeavors  to  persuade  you  that  we  are  rebels ; 
hoping  thereby  to  separate  you  from  us  3'our 
brothers,  and  to  make  joii  the  tools  of  his  insolence, 
the  executioners  of  his  cruelty,  the  defenders  of  his 
impious  desires.  But,  fellow-countrymen,  do  you 
rather  unite  with  and  assist  us  in  opposing  this  bad 
steward  of  the  king.  'T  is  only  by  the  Netherlands 
that  the  Netherlands  can  be  subdued.  Whence 
hath  the  duke  the  power  of  which  he  boasts,  but 
from  yourselves?  Whence  his  ships,  supplies, 
moneys,  weapons,  soldiers  ?  From  the  Netherland 
cities.  Why  has  poor  Netherland  become  degen- 
erate and  bastard?  Wist  ye  not  that  our  fore- 
fathers never  brooked  the  tyranny  of  foreign  na- 
tions, nor  suffered  aliens  even  to  hold  office  within 
our  borders?  If  this  little  strip  of  land  called 
Holland,  if  a  marshy  archipelago  like  Zealand,  can 
thus  hold  at  bay  the  power  of  Spain,  what  could 
not  all  the  Netherlands  accomplish  ?  As  for  our- 
selves, we  intend  to  perish  one  town  after  another, 
man  by  man,  rather  than  submit  to  Alva's  tyranny 
over  the  soul  and  over  the  Bbd}-."^-" 

These  ringing  words  were  prodigiously  effective ; 
and  though  the  states-general  were  not  prepared  to 
make  common  cause  with  Orange,  they  did  refuse 
*  Bor.,  torn.  5,  p.  159,  el  seq.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  305. 


714  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

to  advance  a  penny  to  refill  the  empty  exchequer  of 
the  viceroy,*  and  the  object  of  the  manifesto  was 
so  far  gained. 

Encouraged  by  this  success,  William  next  indi- 
ted an  "  epistle"  to  the  king — not  so  much  with  the 
hope  of  touching  Philip,  as  for  the  purpose  of  pla- 
cing his  cause  before  the  world.  "We  contend, 
sire,"  wrote  he,  "for  nothing  less  than  our  ancient 
franchises  and  freedom  of  conscience.  We  do  not 
desire  to  shake  off  our  allegiance  to  your  majesty ; 
but  only  that  our  consciences  may  be  preserved  free 
before  the  Lord  our  God,  that  we  may  be  permitted 
to  hear  his  holy  Avord,  and  walk  in  his  command- 
ments, so  that  we  may  be  able  to  give  an  account 
of  our  souls  to  the  Supreme  Judge  at  the  last  day. 
This,  Alva  denies  us  in  your  name ;  therefore  have 
we  taken  up  arms,  therefore  do  we  strive  to  free 
ourselves  from  his  bloodthirsty  hands.  If  he  prove 
too  strong  for  us,  we  can  at  least  die  honorably, 
leaving  a  praiseworthy  name  and  an  unconquered 
fatherland.  Herein  are  all  our  cities  pledged  to 
each  other  and  to  God,  to  stand  every  siege,  to 
dare  the  utmost,  to  endure  all  imaginable  miseries ; 
yea,  rather  to  set  fire  to  our  homes  and  give  back 
these  toil-won  lands  to  the  sea,  than  ever  to  submit 
our  souls  to  a  Satanic  yoke."t 

Soon  after  the  pulRlication  of  this  letter,  the 
dauntless  advocate  of  Luther's  axiom,  that  "thought 
is   toll-free,"  publicly   united   with  the   Reformed 

«  Bor.,  Hoofd. 

f  Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  469,  et  seq.     Brandt,  ut  aniea. 


THE  HOEIZON  BRIGHTENS.  715 

Dutch  cliurcli  at  Dort,  in  order  that  his  testimony 
and  his  Hfe  might  be  of  a  piece.* 

Meantime,  galled  by  his  losses,  aware  that  the 
towns  of  Holland  had  been  deUvered  from  imme- 
diate peril,  and  convinced  that  his  continued  resi- 
dence at  Amsterdam  would  be  a  practical  imprison- 
ment, since  the  giieux,  surrounding  the  city  on  all 
sides,  eflfectually  barred  communication  with  the 
southern  provinces,!  Alva  determined  to  leave  the 
laffunes  and  return  to  Brussels.  But  so  much  had 
he  suffered  in  prestige,  so  bitterly  was  he  hated,  and 
above  all,  so  ruinously  had  he  run  in  debt  to  the 
burghers,  that  he  feared  an  insurrection  might  stay 
an  open  departure.  Accordingly,  he  resorted  to 
stratagem.  One  day  in  November,  he  gave  notice 
by  sound  of  trumpet,  that  all  to  whom  he  was 
indebted  should  attend  him  the  next  morning  to  re- 
ceive their  dues ;  then  this  free-liver  on  the  money 
of  other  men,  who  was  prodigal  not  within  the  com- 
pass of  a  guinea,  this  hero  of  a  hundred  battles, 
cheated  his  creditors  by  skulking  out  of  Amsterdam 
under  cover  of  the  night| — certainly  not  a  dignified 
proceeding  on  the  part  of  his  highness,  the  gover- 
nor-general of  the  Low  Countries. 

Since  Medina  Coeli  had  peeped  into  the  coun- 
try, and  then,  observing  the  chaos,  sHpped  out, 
leaving  the  burden  of  affairs  on  the  shoulders  of 
him  whom  he  had  come  to  relieve,  the  duke  had 

«  Archives  de  la  Maison  d'Orauge-Nassau,  torn.  4,  p.  220. 

f  Velius  Hoorn,  book  3,  bl.  221,  et  seq. 

X  Hoofd,  torn.  8,  pp.  329,  330.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  305. 


716  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

never  ceased  importuning  the  king  for  leave  to  retire 
from  the  vice-regal  throne.  Now  Philip,  marking 
the  general  shipwreck  of  his  interests  in  the  Neth- 
erlands, again  acceded,  commissioning  on  this  occa- 
sion, as  Alva's  successor,  Don  Luis  de  Eequesens, 
grand  commander  of  the  order  of  St.  lago.* 

The  new  governor  arrived  at  Brussels  on  the 
17th  of  November,  1573  ;t  upon  which  event,  Alva 
wrote  to  "kiss  his  majesty's  feet;"  preparing 
meantime  to  follow  the  salute  with  all  speed.  On 
the  18th  of  December,  he  left  the  states  never  to 
return,  amid  the  smothered  curses  of  all  classes  ;| 
though,  as  the  Romans  said  of  Augustus  Caesar, 
that  he  should  either  not  have  been  born  or  not 
have  died,  the  ultra-loyalists  affirmed  that  the  duke 
ought  either  not  to  have  entered  the  provinces,  or 
not  to  have  departed  at  that  time,  in  eclipse,  when 
the  patriot  horizon  was  all  ablaze  with  success.§ 

e  Hoofd,  torn.  8,  p.  331.     Bor.,  torn.  6,  p.  i"i.         t  rbid. 

J  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  1291.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  p. 

306. 

§  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  81.  On  reaching  Madrid,  Alva  -was  well 
received  by  the  king,  residing  at  court  until  Don  Frederic  brought 
both  himself  and  his  father  into  disgrace.  Having  betrayed  one  of 
the  queen's  maids  of  honor,  he  suddenly  married  his  cousin,  to 
avoid  that  reparation  by  espousal  which  was  claimed  ;  whereupon 
Philip  banished  and  imprisoned  Don  Frederic,  and  Alva  also  be- 
cause he  had  advised  the  baseness.  Some  years  later,  when  he 
undertook  the  conquest  of  Portugal,  the  king  required  the  old  sol- 
dier's sword  once  more,  and  he  was  intrusted  with  the  chief  com- 
mand of  the  Spanish  army  ;  which  caused  Alva  to  wonder  that,  for 
the  conquest  of  a  kingdom,  his  majesty  should  have  use  of  a  fet- 
tered general.  He  managed  the  war  with  his  accustomed  skill, 
subdued  the  Portuguese,  and  annexed  their  land  to  Spain.  But 
having  overtoiled  himself  in  this  campaigning,  he  soon  after  fell 


THE  HORIZON  BRIGHTENS.  717 

He  weut  out,  taking  with  liim  his  ferocious 
son,  Don  Frederic  de  Toledo,  and  jackal  Vargas, 
and  "Egypt  was  glad  when  they  departed."  On 
the  homeward  journey,  Alva  boasted  that  during 
his  five  years'  rule  eighteen  thousand  six  hundred 
citizens  had  been  done  to  death  by  the  headsman  ;* 
and  this  in  addition  to  the  myriads  of  both  sexes,  of 
all  ages,  who  had  perished  in  battle  and  siege,  by 
famine,  by  massacre,  and  at  the  stake,  put  to  death 
in  the  wantonness  of  impunity — a  phantom  host 
whose  number  may  not  be  computed.  Yet,  though 
perfectly  familiar  with  the  details  of  this  dead-list — 
wl©  knew  it  better? — Vargas  complained  pathet- 
ically that  over-clemency  was  the  rock  upon  which 
the  administration  of  the  duke  was  wrecked.t  Alva 
himself  seemed  to  think  so,  for  he  wrote  the  king : 
"  Err  no  more  in  that  direction,  sire ;  burn  to  the 
ground  every  city  in  the  Low  Countries  except  here 
and  there  one,  which  can  be  permanently  garri- 
soned.":!: 

But  thoroughly  brutal  as  he  was,  absolutely  lost 
to  all  compassion,  't  is  certain  that  the  butcher  duke 
did  not  exceed  his  instructions§ — never  ran  without 
his  message,  even  though  he  returned  without  his 
answer.     As  the  image  of  the  murderer  is  said  to 

ill  at  Lisbon,  and  died  on  the  12th  of  Decembei-,  1582.  Vide  Strada, 
torn.  2,  p.  81,  et  seq.     Vie  du  Due  d'Albe,  in  loco. 

«  Hoofd,  torn.  8,  p.  332.  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  306.  Bor.,  torn. 
6,  p.  47i. 

t  Meteren,  torn.  4,  folio  86.     Brandt,  ut  aniea. 

t  Coiresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  127G. 

§  Strada,  torn.  2,  p.  82. 


718  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

be  stamped  upon  and  reflected  by  tlie  retina  of  the 
victim's  eye,  so  in  the  denouncing  orbs  of  these  cru- 
elties Phihp's  face  glints  into  sight,  cold,  pitiless, 
.approving. 

Of  Alva's  character  it  were  superfluous  to  speak ; 
he  had  none.  His  acts  are  before  us,  and  they  tell 
the  story.  His  merits  may  be  summed  up  with 
jiidicial  fairness  in  the  words — a  consummate  sol- 
dier. Yet  despite  his  military  skill,  he  took  the 
provinces  from  the  duchess  of  Parma  in  seeming 
repose,  and  left  them  in  open  and  successful  revolt. 
All  his  victories  were  defeats ;  every  patriot  defeat 
a  victory;  for  liberty  is  vital  in  every  part,,  and  dftn- 
not  die  but  by  annihilation. 

As  a  statesman,  he  was  despicable ;  as  a  finan- 
cier, crazy.  Unlike  Granvelle,  he  did  not  even 
understand  the  politics  of  despotism.  Finding  his 
party  strong,  he  left  it  broken  in  utter  shameless- 
ness.  Succeeding  to  a  treasure-house  measurably 
full,  he  left  it  defeated,  in  hopeless  bankruptcy. 
His  whims  replaced  the  ancient  charters  of  the 
Netherlands;  his  confiscations  replaced  legitimate 
finance. 

Alva  knew  only  to  destroy.  His  last  act  was,  to 
roast  alive,  over  a  slow  fire,  Uitenhaave,  a  Protes- 
tant gentleman  of  Ghent.  His  whole  rule  was  a 
hunt  for  plunder.  Even  the  soldiery  were  accus- 
tomed to  take,  without  a  "  by  your  leave,"  whatever 
they  fancied  from  the  burghers  upon  whom  they 
were  billeted ;  for  had  they  not  been  taught  to  think 
that  the  Netherlanders  had  forfeited  all  rights  by 


THE  HOEIZON  BRIGHTENS.  719 

tlieir  rebellion  against  that  brace  of  divinities,  Pliilip 
and  the  pope  ?  The  duke  had  won  fame  elsewhere ; 
here,  only  infamy.  The  blood  of  martyrs  blighted 
his  laurels.  When  he  departed,  humanity  thanked 
God  that  it  had  one  enemy  the  less. 


720  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

CHAPTEE   XXXIX. 

THE   GEAND   COMMANDER   OF   ST.  lAGO. 

In  awarding  Alva's  relinquished  sceptre  to  Ee- 
quesens,  liis  majesty  of  Spain  gave  evidence  of  an 
altered  policy,  but  not  of  a  changed  purpose. 
Having,  now  for  above  five  years,  moved  bishops, 
knights,  and  castles  across  the  3ihess-board  of  the 
provinces  with  no  definite  result,  he  meant  to  use 
this  viceroy  as  a  counter  in  a  new  game  for  the 
same  stake.  ^ 

Eequesens  was  a  man  of  engaging  manners,  but 
of  mediocre  parts.  He  brought  with  him  into  the 
Netherlands  an  estabhshed  reputation.  As  gov- 
ernor of  Milan,  he  was  esteemed  by  Philip  to  have 
been  alike  firm  and  prudent — a  kind  of  military 
Machiavelli.*  In  the  Levant,  in  manifold  fightings 
with  the  Turk,  and  especially  at  the  battle  of  Le- 
panto — a  splendid  victory,  but  barren  as  the  waves 
on  which  the  conquering  galleys  rode — he  had  won 
some  fame.  And  though,  like  his  predecessor,  a 
soldier,  he  was,  unlike  the  duke,  at  least  human  and 
accessible. 

His  reception  at  Brussels  was  cordial.  Wea- 
ried of  the  brutal  monotony  of  Alva's  rule,  the  peo- 
ple felt  that  any  change  must  bring  relief.!     Still,  it 

*  Strada,  torn.  3,  p.  1. 

t  Bor.,  torn.  7,  p.  477.     Strada,  uVi  sup. 


THE  COMMANDER  OF  ST.  lAGO.      721 

was  whispered  that  this  sniiHug  stranger  knew  how 
to  be  cruel,  and  the  suspicion  was  strengthened  by 
mntterings  which  swept  seaward  from  Milan,  and 
by  the  recollection  of  his.crucifixions  of  the  Moris- 
coes  in  Grenada."  Besides,  since  the  sovereignty 
of  the  house  of  Austria  began  over  the  Nether- 
lands, had  it  not  been  customary  to  seat  a  prince  of 
the  blood  as  governor-general  in  the  capital  ?  Yet 
the  new-comer  was  but  a  "  gentleman  of  cloak  and 
sword."t 

As  for  Requesens,  it  was  his  cue  to  court  popu- 
larity and  to  play  the  part  of  a  conciliator.  Not 
that  he  really  felt  kindly  towards  the  states ;  he  dis- 
tinctly averred  that,  at  heart,  he  approved  of  Alva's 
severities.:]:  He  only  assumed  the  part  because  the 
king,  unsuccessful  in  the  field,  had  determined,  if 
possible,  to  resort  once  more  to  guile.§ 

He  began  his  administration  by  punishing  the 
insolencies  of  several  mutinous  bands  of  men-at- 
arms,  living  at  free-commons  upon  the  provinces,  as 
was  their  wont.  The  citizens  applauded.  Next  he 
hurled  Duke  Alva's  statue  from  its  pedestal  in  Ant- 
werp citadel.  The  burghers  shouted  themselves 
hoarse.  II 

Elated  and  self-confident,  Requesens  imagined 
from  these  demonstrations  that  the  people  might  be 

■'-  Prescott,  Hist,  of  Philip  II.,  vol.  3,  in  loco.  Watson,  Life  of 
Philip  II. 

f  Corresx).  de  Mondoucet  et  Charles  IX.     Cited  in  Motley,  vol. 

2,  p.  512.  t  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  1291. 

§  Strada,  torn.  3,  p.  1.     Motley,  vol.  2,  pp.  5U,  519. 
II  Strada,  uhi  sup. 

Dutch  Kef.  31 


722  THE  DUTCH  REFOBMATION. 

made  clay  in  his  hands,  to  be  fashioned  after  any 
pattern  which  he  might  select.  "  Sire,"  wrote  he  to 
Philip  at  this  juncture,  "  religion  has  naught  to  do 
with  this  struggle.  'T  is  tut  a  trumped-up  fulcrum 
for  demagogues  to  rest  their  levers  on  in  their  at- 
tempt to  overthrow  your  majesty's  authority.  Grant 
me  to  pardon  penitent  heretics,  and  to  reconcile 
them  to  holy  church,  permit  me  to  send  into  per- 
petual exile  a  few  of  the  obstinate,  with  some  small 
portion  of  their  estates;  and  we  shall  have  peace."* 

Such  was  the  new  governor-general's  diagnosis 
of  the  Netherland  disease ;  a  diagnosis  based  upon 
a  huzza  and  a  few  vivas — symptoms  occasioned,  too, 
by  the  curbing  the  free  lances  and  the  toppling 
over  a  hated  effigy;  a  diagnosis  which  at  once 
stamped  the  viceroy  as  a  quack  in  jDolitics.  Alva, 
Philip  himself,  could  have  told  him  better. 

However,  as  the  war  was  as  yet  in  mid-career, 
Kequesens  wished,  before  applying  his  panacea,  to 
signalize  his  advent  by  some  exploit  which  should 
at  once  sustain  his  fame  and  advance  him  in  the 
estimation  of  the  king.  He  thought  that  an  am- 
nesty would  attract  more  attention  if  set  off  against 
the  background  of  a  victory. 

An  opportunity  to  "  sound  the  clarion,  fill  the 
fife,"  was  not  lacking.  For  twenty-four  months 
past,  the  patriots  had  been  besieging  Middleburg, 
grimly  persistent  to  clutch  it  for  Orange.  With  as 
stern  determination,  stout  old  Mondragone  held  it 
for  the  king.  Various  attempts  made  by  Alva  to 
»  Corresp.  de  Philippe  II.,  uhi  sup.,  p.  1293. 


THE  COMMANDER  OF  ST.  lAGO.       723 

succor  the  town — tlio  last  in  the  archipelago  which 
floated  the  Spanish  banner — had  been  thwarted  by 
the  Dutch  fleet.  Now,  reduced  to  famine-rations, 
Mondragoue  sent  word  to  Brussels  that,  unless  re- 
lieved at  once,  he  must  surrender.* 

Such  an  announcement,  from  such  a  soldier, 
meant  all  it  said.  Requesens  had  essayed  to  per- 
suade the  besiegers  to  raise  the  leaguer,  promising 
in  that  event  to  purge  their  treason  with  the  hys- 
sop of  a  royal  pardon.  Deaf  to  this  offer,  the  Zea- 
landers  only  drew  their  lines  more  closely  about  the 
starving  city.f 

The  governor-general  hastened  to  Antwerp,  rig- 
ged out  a  flotilla,  freighted  it  with  provisions,  crowd- 
ed it  with  soldiers,  gave  the  command  of  seventy- 
five  vessels  to  his  admijfal,  De  Glimes,  and  to  Ro- 
mero, intrusted  thirty  ships  to  Sanchio  D'Avila, 
ordered  those  to  sail  towards  Middleburg  by  one 
passage,  these  by  another,  and  then  passed  on  to 
the  village  of  Schakerloo,  in  order  to  witness  from 
its  quays  the  triumphant  raising  of  the  siege.:]: 

The  patriots,  apprized  betimes  of  the  expedition, 
prepared  to  defeat  it.  Orange  himself  came  over 
from  Holland  to  ofl&cer  "  the  beggars  of  the  sea."§ 
He,  like  Eequesens,  divided  his  armada,  upwards  of 
a  hundred  ships,  into  two  squadrons,  retained  the 
command  of  one,  and  gave  the  chieftainship  of  the 

-■  Bor.,  torn.  7,  p.  479.     Strada,  torn.  3,  p.  1. 
J  Strada,  uhi  sup. 

X  Meteren,  torn.  5,  folio  88.  Hoofd,  torn.  9,  p.  335.  Mendoza, 
torn.  9,  p.  225.  §  Ibid. 


721  THE   DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

otlier  to  Boisot,  the  skilful  admiral  of  Zealand, 
whom  he  ordered  to  grapple  with  T>e  Glimes  and 
Komero,  remaining  off  Middleburg  in  person  to  deal 
with  D'Avila.'^ 

On  the  27tli  of  January,  1574,  De  Glimes  and 
Romero  hove  in  sight,  and  Boisot  lifted  anchor  and 
bore  down  to  meet  tliemf  with  forty  men-of-war. 
Both  fleets  cleared  for  action,  and  broadsides  given 
and  returned  commenced  the  engagement.  It  was 
short,  decisive.  For  a  time  the  enveloping  smoke 
hid  all.  When  this  rolled  up,  ten  of  the  Spanish 
vessels  were  seen  to  have  been  sunk.:j:  A  little  later 
the  Zealanders,  pursuing  their  favorite  tactics,  car- 
ried what  ships  still  contended  by  the  board,  killed 
De  Glimes,  slew  twelve  hundred  of  the  enemy's  ma- 
rines, took  Bomero's  gallej',  forced  that  veteran  to 
swim  ashore  for  his  life,  and  in  sight  of  watching 
Bequesens,  scattered  the  remainder  of  his  armada 
in  wild  flight.§ 

The  prince  did  not  go  into  action;  for  D'Avila, 
informed  of  the  utter  route  of  the  companion-fleet, 
■w^ore  ship,  and  put  back  to  Antwerp,  chased  almost 
into  port  by  the  victorious  gueiix.W 

The  mortified  viceroy  at  once  returned  to  Brus- 
sels, and  Middleburg  surrendered.  William  grant- 
ed terms  of  remarkable  liberality,  as  a  merited  rec- 
ognition of  the  stubborn  gallantry  of  the  defence, 

*  Bor.,  book  7,  p.  479. 

t  Ibid.    Hoofd,  book  9,  p.  335,  et  seq. 

%  Ibid.     Mendoza,  torn.  11,  p.  22G,  seq. 

§  Bor.,  Hoofd,  uhl  siq).     Meteren,  book  5,  folio  89.         ||  Ibid. 


THE   COMMANDER  OF  ST.  lAGO.       725 

permitting  the  garrison  to  march  out  with  arms  and 
baggage,  the  priests  to  pass  over  to  the  mainland ; 
granting  a  pardon  to  the  citizens,  on  condition  that 
the  J  took  the  oath  to  him  as  stadtholder,  and  paid 
a  subsidy  of  three  hundred  thousand  florins,  two- 
thirds  of  which  he  afterwards  remitted ;  and  freeing 
Moudragone  on  a  parole  which  required  him,  within 
two  months,  either  to  secure  the  release  of  St.  Alde- 
gonde  or  to  return  himself  as  a  prisoner-of-war,* 

By  the  acquisition  of  Middleburg,  the  patriots 
gained  the  island  of  Walcheren,  freed  all  Zealand, 
and  swept  the  whole  seaboard  clear  of  foes.  So  much 
was  achieved,  too,  by  a  volunteer  navy.  The  siege 
and  the  repeated  attempts  to  raise  it,  had  cost  the 
king  seven  millions  of  florins,  in  addition  to  the  pay 
of  the  men-at-arms  ;t  and  if  such  were  the  footing 
up  of  one  item  in  the  budget  of  expense,  is  it  strange 
that  the  aggregate  should  mortgage  the  gold-mines 
of  Peru  and  Mexico  and  empty  the  home-treasury? 

Contrary  wise,  the  gueux  had  no  regular  fund 
from  which  to  draw.  Fighting  for  God  and  the 
fatherland,  they  scorned  to  put  their  hands  into  the 
necessitous  pockets  of  the  state — the  unselfish  "  beg- 
gars of  the  sea"  left  that  for  the  mercenaries  whom 
Orange  was  forced  from  time  to  time  to  recruit. 
Usually  they  subsisted  upon  the  free-will  ofierings 
of  their  fellow-citizens  of  the  towns  off  which  they 
chanced  to  anchor.  When  this  resource  failed, 
they  gave  chase  to  any  Spanish  merchantman  which 

*  Meudoza,  torn.  1),  p.  229.     Hoofd,  torn.  9,  p.  338.     Bor. ,  d  al. 
t  Davies,  vol.  2,  p.  3. 


726  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

might  cross  their  watery  path,  wringing  their  sup- 
port at  the  sword's  point  from  the  enemy.  When 
their  lookouts  could  descry  no  Spaniard,  and  their 
larder  was  at  low  ebb,  men  and  officers  alike  were 
content  to  live  for  weeks  at  a  time  upon  the  salt-her- 
ring, a  staple  export  of  their  country.  Nor  were 
they  more  terrified  by  death  than  by  privation  and 
hunger.  If  menaced  by  capture,  they  always  pre- 
ferred to  blow  up  their  ships  rather  than  strike  their 
flag  to  the  hated  foreigner.*  What  had  such  men 
to  fear?  What  human  power  could  reduce  such 
combatants  to  vassalage  ? 

Eequesens  himself  soon  came  to  understand  this. 
"Before  my  arrival,"  wrote  he  to  Philip,  "I  could 
not  comprehend  how  the  impoverished  rebels  could 
maintain  such  considerable  fleets,  while  your  maj- 
esty could  hardly  support  a  single  squadron.  It  ap- 
pears, however,  that  men  who  are  fighting  for  their 
lives,  their  firesides,  their  properties,  their  false  reli- 
gion, for  their  own  cause,  in  a  word,  are  content  to 
receive  rations  only,  without  asking  for  pay."t 

But  this  nation  of  mariners,  unconquerable  at 
sea,  were  unable  to  cope  with  their  oppressor  on 
the  land.  Patient  to  sufi'er,  dauntless  in  defence, 
they  yet  lacked  the  experience  and  the  discipline 
essential  to  success  in  offensive  warfare.  Conse- 
quently the  prince  was  driven  to  enroll  armies  out- 
side of  his  own  boundary  lines.  This  was  the 
vulnerable  spot  in  the  heel  of  that  Achilles ;  for 

*  Davies,  vol.  2,  p.  3.    Metereu,  book  5,  folio  99. 
t  Corresp.  cle  Philippe  II.,  torn.  2,  p.  1291. 


THE  COMMANDER  OF  ST.  lAGO.       727 

men  who  spill  their  blood  for  hire  estimate  a  cause 
by  the  value  of  its  gold-setting. 

But  in  war  armies  are  essential,  and  William 
was  at  this  time  doing  his  utmost  to  raise' one.  He 
had  applied  for  aid  to  Elizabeth,  though  vainly  at 
the  moment ;  for  her  majesty  had  but  recently  re- 
opened commercial  intercourse  with  Spain,*  and 
she  feared  that  long  interrupted  trade  would  balk 
at  any  fresh  quarrel. t 

Some  time  since  diplomatic  relations,  broken  off 
by  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  had  been  re- 
newed with  France.  It  was  not  without  grave 
doubt  that  Orange  permitted  himself  again  to  clasp 
in  amity  hands  red  with  the  blood  of  the  slaugh- 
tered Huguenots.l  But  of  late  Charles  IX.  had 
professed  bitterly  to  lament  that  crime,  and  he  had 
humbly  courted  a  reconciliation  not  only  with  the 
prince,  but  with  the  Protestant  powers  of  Europe.§ 
Of  course  the  motive  which  inspired  this  move  was 
patent.  Everybody  knew  that  the  queen-mother 
still  v.-islied  to  obtain  the  marital  alliance  with 
England,  and  that  she  was  equally  anxious  to  see 
Anjou  elected  king  of  Poland. II  As  Orange  was 
thought  to  be  influential  in  both  these  quarters,  his 
cooperation  was  a  desideratum.'^  William  was 
aware  that  private  griefs  ought  not  to  be  allowed 

*  On  the  1st  of  May,  1573. 

t  Hume,  Hist,  of  Eng.     Bor.  %  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  476. 

§  Archives  cle  la  Maison  cVOrauge-Nassau,  torn.  4,  par.  2.     De 
Thou,  et  alii. 

II  De  Thou,  Davila.     Hist,  of  Huguenots. 
H  Motley,  iM  sup.,  p.  483. 


728  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

to  stand  in  the  way  of  public  'necessities ;  and 
finally  he  consented  to  trade  help  for  help. 

Between  Gaspar  de  Schomberg,  the  keen  but 
honorable  agent  of  the  French  court  in  Germany, 
and  Count  Louis,  a  treaty  was  negotiated  and  sign- 
ed. Under  this  instrument,  Charles  IX.  bound 
himself  to  guarantee  toleration  to  the  Huguenots — 
without  which  the  prince  refused  to  act — to  permit 
Count  Louis  to  levy  a  thousand  horse  and  seven 
thousand  foot  in  France  for  service  in  the  prov- 
inces, and  to  contribute  to  the  patriot  exchequer  a 
hundred  thousand  crowns,  money  in  hand,  and  an 
equal  sum  quarterly.*  In  return,  William  prom- 
ised, in  the  name  of  the  estates,  to  place  under  the 
protection  of  the  French  throne  whatever  towns 
might  be  taken  outside  of  Holland  and  Zealand,  to 
reimburse  his  royal  ally  for  the  sums  advanced,  and 
if  possible  to  obtain  the  hand  of  Elizabeth  for 
D'Alencon,  and  for  Anjou  the  crown  of  the  Jagel- 
lons.f 

With  this  treaty  and  the  French  moneys  in  his 
pocket.  Count  Louis  began  to  recruit  in  Germany, 
the  customary  chattel-soldier  market.  Three  thou- 
sand riders  and  six  thousand  arqnebusiers  were  soon 
enrolled.:!:  Late  in  February,  1574,  Count  Louis,  at 
the  head  of  this  force,  and  accompanied  by  his  broth- 
er Henry,  a  boy  of  twenty -four,  and  by  Prince  Cliris- 

«  Ai-chives  de  la  Maisou  d'Orange-Nassau,  torn.  4,  p.  116,  et  seq. 
t  Ibid. 

J  Meteren,  torn.  5,  folio  90.     Compare  Strada,  torn.  3,  p.  3  ; 
Mendoza,  torn.  9,  p.  231. 


THE  COMMANDER  OF  ST.  lAGO.       721) 

toplier,  sou  of  the  elector  palatiu,  a  leal  friend  of 
the  good  cause,  passed  tlie  Rhiue  and  opened  the 
campaign.*  Count  Louis'  plan  was,  first,  to  pounce 
upon  the  imj)ortant  town  of  Maestricht ;  or,  that 
failing,  to  cross  the  Meuse  at  the  fords  of  Stochem, 
push  thence  directly  into  Holland,  form  a  junction 
with  William  at  Delft,  and  then  throw  their  united 
armies  as  a  barrier  between  the  revolted  states  and 
any  invasion  from  the  south.f 

Eequesens,  listening  through  the  ears  of  his  spies, 
soon  heard  the  din  of  Count  Louis'  preparations. 
Acting  promptly,  he  too  began  to  make  a  levy  in 
the  lesser  German  states.']:  Nor  did  he  neglect  to 
put  his  house  in  order  by  reinforcing  the  garrisons 
of  Valenciennes,  of  Ghent,  of  Antwerp,  and  espe- 
cially of  Maestricht — in  all  which  the  prince  had 
many  partisans. §  The  greater  part  of  his  troops 
had  gone  into  winter  quarters,  sore  from  recent  de- 
,feat,  sidky  because  unpaid.  By  liberal  promises  of 
spoil  and  the  speedy  payment  of  their  arrears,  they 
were  finally  prevailed  on  to  take  the  field ;  and  as 
the  viceroy  had  decided  to  remain  at  Antwerp  with 
Chiappino  Yitelli,  to  watch  and  thwart  a  rumored 
outbreak  in  favor  of  Orange,  Sanchio  D'Avila  was 
ordered  to  take  the  saddle  and  beat  off  the  inva- 
sion.ll 

Count  Louis,  moving  with  alacrity,  pitched  his 

s>  Bor.,  book  7,  pp.  489,  490. 

f  Archives,  etc. ,  uhi  sup. ,  p.  246,  et  seq. 

X  Beutivoglio,  De  Thou.  §  Mendoza,  torn.  9,  p.  230. 

II  Ibid.     Bor.,  torn.  7,  p.  488. 

31* 


730  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

camp  ou  the  banks  of  the  Meuse,  opposite  Maes- 
triclit,  in  tlie  early  days  of  April,  only  to  find  his 
purposed  "pounce"  forestalled  by  the  presence  of 
the  Spaniard.*  Then,  in  pursuance  of  the  pre- 
concerted plan,  he  folded  his  tents  and  started  to 
meet  the  prince,  who,  meantime,  had  massed  six 
thousand  men,  and  was  now  advancing  to  expedite 
the  j  unction. t 

Anxious  to  foil  this  union,  D'Avila  moved  down 
the  left  bank  of  the  Meuse  with  extraordinary 
rapidity,  crossed  the  river  at  Mook-heath,  a  hamlet 
on  the  confines  of  the  duchy  of  Cleves,  and  finding 
that  he  had  been  successful  in  outmarching  his  op- 
ponent, flung  his  army  across  Count  Louis'  path- 
way, calmly  awaiting  his  upcoming.:]: 

On  the  13th  of  April,  1574,  Count  Louis  came 
upon  the  scene.  He  saw  at  a  glance  that  a  battle 
was  inevitable — a  battle  not  of  his  own  seeking,  for 
which  he  was  ill-prepared.  His  forces  did,  indeed, 
somewhat  outnumber  those  of  the  Spaniard ;  but 
D'Avila  was  being  reinforced  from  hour  to  hour, 
and  Mendoza,  Braccamonte,  Mondragone  were  al- 
ready with  him  ;  while  the  patriot  ranks,  weakened 
by  desertion,  were,  as  usual  ou  the  eve  of  an  engage- 
ment, broken  by  a  mutiny  of  the  hirelings,  clamor- 
ous for  their  wages. §  Under  these  circumstances, 
a  postponement  of  the  struggle  could  only  make 
bad  worse  ;  and  Nassau  saw  that  it  would  be  impos- 

«  Mendoza,  ubi  sup.,  p.  233.  t  Eor.,  Hoofd. 

t  Mendoza,  uU  sup.,  p.  239.     Bor.,  torn.  7,  p.  490. 
§  Meteren,  book  5,  folio  91. 


THE  COMMANDER  OF  ST.  lAGO.      731 

sible  to  give  his  wary  foeman  the  slij) — knew  that 
no  herring  drawn  across  the  scent  could  throw  hira 
off. 

Therefore  he  spent  the  night  in  strengthening 
his  position  by  girting  the  camp  with  a  deep  trench. 
In  the  morning  he  formed  in  hne  of  battle,  and 
braced  himself  to  bear  the  shock.*  D'Avila,  bright 
and  early,  massed  his  columns  and  moved  to  the 
attack.  In  a  moment  the  Spaniards  leaped  the 
trench,  and  each  singling  out  his  antagonist,  pushed 
the  fight  with  resolute  purpose.  For  a  little,  all 
was  enraged  confusion — glittering  casques,  clanging 
swords,  blood-smeared  faces  ;  then  the  scene  chang- 
ed, and  the  hireling  infantry  of  Count  Louis  was  de- 
scried quite  trampled  down  and  dashed  in  pieces.f, 

Count  Louis,  charging  at  the  head  of  his  riders, 
momentarily  turned  the  tide ;  but  the  Spanjard, 
regfithering  his  scattered  cavaliers,  and  freshly  rein- 
forced, thundered  down  upon  the  exhausted  patriot 
horsemen,  and  hopelessly  routed  them.  Nassau, 
disdaining  to  fly,  called  his  young  brother  to  his 
side,  was  joined  by  Duke  Christopher,  and  the 
dauntless  companions-in-arms  i^lunged  anew  into 
the  fight — plunged  in  never  to  come  out ;  never 
more  was  either  of  them  seen  ;  nor,  though  all  bore 
witness  to  their  gallantry,  could  any  tell  the  precise 
manner  of  their  fall.|      It  was  only  known  that 

«  Bentivoglio,  torn.  8,  p.  142,  et  seq.     Mendoza,  torn.  9,  p.  239. 
t  Meteren  and  Mendoza,  uU  sup.,  et  seq.    Hoofd,  book  9,  p.  350. 
I  Bentivoglio,   Hoofd,  Mendoza,  uhi  sup.     Strada,  torn.  3,  p. 
3,  et  alri. 


732  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

somewhere  on  the  battle-field,  strewed  with  four 
thousand  corpses,  lay  the  intrepid  trio,  the  noblest 
spoils  of  D'Avila's  victory. 

Of  itself,  the  defeat  at  Mook-heath  was  a  disas- 
ter to  the  patriots;  these  deaths  made  it  the  sad- 
dest of  calamities.  In  Count  Louis,  preeminently, 
the  states  lost  the  stanchest  of  champions ;  and 
William  was  bereaved  at  once  of  the  most  devoted 
of  brothers  and  of  the  trustiest  of  assistants.  The 
others  were  lamented ;  he  was  missed. 

Count  Louis  was  one  of  those  men  who  inspire 
friendship  and  compel  respect.  He  did  not  possess  ex- 
traordinary parts,  but  he  was  greatly  good.  Promj^t, 
incisive,  fertile  in  resources,  self-reliant,  enterpri- 
sing— he  was  all  this,  and  more.  As  a  soldier,  his 
chief  defect  was  a  lack  of  prudence.  He  seemed 
always  to  think  that  nothing  could  be  more  indis- 
creet than  discretion.  'T  is  this  trait,  perhaps, 
which  explains  his  frequent  failures  in  the  tented 
field.  Nevertheless,  his  military  skill  was  highly 
rated  by  contemporaries,  and  he  had  measured 
swords  with  some  of  the  foremost  warriors  of  that 
age. 

As  a  politician  too,  he  was  esteemed ;  and  at 
that  time,  when  Machiavelli  was  thought  to  be  the 
model  of  a  diplomat,  he  was  an  honest  negotiator, 
and  successful  withal,  though  never  stooping  to  a 
lie  for  help,  and  never  angling  with  dissimulation  as 
Avith  a  hook.  A  Christian  soldier,  he  had  learned 
his  divinity  at  Calvin's  feet ;  a  steadfast  reformer, 
he  understood  the  why  and  the  Avherefore  of  the 


THE  COMMANDEE  OF  ST.  lAGO.       733 

war.  With  such  a  character,  and  so  equipped,  all 
generous  souls  might  well  bemoan  his  untimely 
taking-off. 

Young  Henry  Nassau  was  but  just  entering  upon 
the  stage  of  action — now  cut  off  in  the  May  of  life, 
as  his  brother  in  the  mellow  ripeness  of  near  middle 
age.  Sadly  grieved  must  have  been  their  widowed 
mother,  who  still  lived  in  Germany :  called,  some 
years  back,  to  mourn  for  her  son  Adolphus,  and 
now  weeping  over  the  unknown  graves  of  two 
more  of  her  children.  Happily,  she  knew  where 
to  look  for  consolation  in  this  bitter  hour,  and  had 
learned  to  say,  "  Father,  not  my  will,  but  thine  be 
done." 

As  for  Duke  Christopher,  his  father,  who  was  a 
Christian  of  the  John  Knox  type,  felt  proud  that  he 
had  died  in  the  bed  of  honor,  contending  for  Jeho- 
vah's.cause.  "  'T  were  better  thus,"  said  he,  "  than 
for  the  boy  to  have  passed  his  time  in  idleness, 
which  is  the  devil's  pillow."'- 

Immediately  upon  the  reception  of  the  melan- 
choly news  from  Mook-heath,  the  prince  of  Orange 
faced  about  and  marched  back  to  Holland,  know- 
ing his  inability  to  keep  the  field  against  the  vic- 
torious Spaniard.'!-  He  looked  for  an  eager  pur- 
suit. Such  was  D'Avila's  purpose,  but  an  unex- 
pected occurrence  held  him  back:  his  troops,  to 
whom  thirty-six  months'  arrears  were  due,  muti- 
nied on  the  battle-field.     "Pay  us  in  full,"  cried 

■■'  Arcliives  et  Cor.,  torn.  4,  p.  367. 

f  Metereu,  book  5,  folio  91.     De  Thou,  Bentivoglio. 


734  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

they,  "  or  we  Avill  not  advance  a  step."^  Though 
lavish  of  i3romises  before  the  fight,  now  that  the 
day  was  won,  Don  Sancho  was  unable  to  comply 
with  the  demand.  The  furious  soldiers  drove  him 
out  of  camp,  elected  another  commander  from  the 
ranks,  and  started  for  Antwerp,  intending  to  live  at 
free  commons  upon  the  burghers  of  that  wealthy 
city  until  paid.  On  the  26th  of  April  they  entered 
the  metropolis,  and  halted  in  the  great  square. 
Requesens  attempted  to  harangue  them.  "  Dollars, 
not  speeches,"  shouted  the  armed  mob.t  As  he,  like 
D'Avila,  was  flush  of  promises  but  scant  of  funds,  the 
troops  left  him  haranguing  vacancy  and  proceeded 
to  quarter  themselves  upon  the  town,  seeking  the 
most  famous  kitchens  and  the  most  sumptuous  apart- 
ments; seating  themselves  at  the  tables  of  bishop 
and  burgomaster,  margrave  and  merchant,  eager, 
like  Offellius  Bibulus,  to  gluttouize  and  to  guzzle.:}: 

Some  weeks  passed  ere  the  viceroy  succeeded 
in  reducing  his  insubordinate  followers  again  to 
order ;  nor  did  he  master  the  mutineers  until  they 
had  mastered  him  by  obliging  him  to  mulct  the 
townsfolk  in  the  sum  of  four  hundred  thousand 
crowns  in  gold  and  as  much  more  in  merchandise, 
with  which  to  settle  the  king's  debt,  linking  there- 
with a  full  pardon. § 

As  Kequesens  rejected  all  the  measures  which 
Charapigny,  governor  of  Antwerp  in  the  absence  of 

*  Meteren,  uhi  sup.    Bor.,  book  7,  p.  49-±.    Strada,  torn.  3,  p.  4. 
+  Ibid.  J  Ibid. 

§  Bor.,  ubi  siq).     Bentivoglio,  torn.  8,  p.  1-19. 


THE  COMMANDER  OF  ST.  lAGO.       735 

D'Avila,  bad  proposed  for  the  security  of  the  city, 
forcing  him,  in  compliance  with  the  demand  of  the 
mutineers,  to  quit  the  citadel  with  his  Walloons,  he 
was,  perhajis  not  unjustly,  accused  of  conniving  at 
the  outbreak  for  the  purjoose  of  extorting  a  contri- 
bution from  the  Brabanters.* 

The  governor-general  was  persuaded  that  the 
Hollanders  could  only  be  met  with  success  upon 
their  chosen  element,  the  water.  Kecently,  he  had 
equipped  a  flotilla  to  take  the  place  of  that  sunk  off 
Middleburg.  When  the  insubordinate  troops  arri- 
ved, these  ships  lay  moored  at  Antwerp  quays. 
Fearing  that  they  might  be  seized  as  security  by 
the  soldiers,  he  ordered  their  commander,  Adol- 
phus  Hanstede,  to  sail  down  the  Scheldt  and  cast 
anchor  below  the  town.  But  in  clearing  Scjdla  he 
ran  into  Charybdis.  The  patriot  admiral  Boisot, 
learning  of  the  change  of  station,  slipped  unsus- 
pected into  the  river,  assailed  the  Spaniard,  sunk 
fourteen  of  his  vessels,  captured  Hanstede,  and  j^ut 
the  surprised  crews  to  the  sword,  t  In  several  of 
the  gallej'S  vast  amounts  of  plate  and  valuables  had 
been  stowed,  to  rescue  the  treasure  from  the  pillage 
of  the  mutineers ;  and  this  too  was  transferred  to  the 
prince's  exchequer.:]:  It  was  a  brilliant  victory,  crip- 
pling to  Requesens,  who  intended  shortly  to  employ 
this  armada  in  the  recovery  of  Zealand ;  and  thus 
it  proved  a  set-off  to  the  misery  of  Mook-heath. 

«  Stratia,  torn.  3,  p.  6.     Bor.,  Hoofd,  ctalil. 

t  Hoofd,  book  9,  p.  359,    et  seq.     Beutivoglio,  torn.  8,  p.  149. 

X  Bor.,  book  7,  p.  513. 


736  THE  DUTCH  REFOBMATION. 

At  the  very  moment  that  Boisot  was  making  this 
havoc  in  the  Scheldt,  PhiKp,  thinking  with  Reque- 
seus  that  it  was  essential  to  his  cause  to  gain  a  foot- 
hold on  the  sea,  was  fitting  out  a  flotilla  with  which 
he  meant  to  cooperate  with  his  viceroy's  squadron 
and  annihilate  the  privateersmen.*  Every  dock- 
yard in  Spain  was  kept  busy  in  building  vessels. 
And  still  farther  to  increase  his  fleet,  his  piratical 
majesty  not  only  seized  what  merchant  vessels  from 
the  Netherlands  were  in  his  ports,  but  likewise 
pressed  into  his  service  traders  belonging  to  Emb- 
den  and  the  Hanse  towns.  In  this  way,  a  large 
force  was  collected— three  hundred  ships,  laden 
with  fifteen  thousand  soldiers.f 

The  cjiteux  on  being  apprized  of  the  impending 
expedition,  prepared,  with  their  wonted  energy,  to 
defend  themselves.  The  archipelago  was  on  the 
qui  vive.  In  all  the  chief er  ports,  watch  was  kept 
day  and  night ;  the  wealthier  inhabitants  volun- 
tarily subscribed  loans  for  the  equipment  of  twenty 
additional  men-of-war;  along  the  whole  stormy 
coastline  the  buoys  and  beacons  were  carefully 
removed,  and  the  fishermen  were  forbidden  to  go 
out  in  a  west  wind,  lest,  haply,  they  might  be 
seized  by  the  Spaniard,  and  compelled  to  con- 
duct his  fleet  through  the  intricate  and  dangerous 
channels,  impossible  to  pass  without  experienced 
guides.^ 

*  Bor. ,  book  7,  p.  524,  et  seq. 

t  Bor. ,  ut  aniea. 

%  Toid.     Davics,  Hist,  of  Holhiud,  vol.  2,  p.  7. 


THE  COMMANDER  OF  ST.  lAGO.      737 

In  anticipation  of  this  difficult}^,  Philip  had  im- 
ported fifty  skilful  native  pilots ;  but  they  all  toot 
the  first  opportunity  to  desert,  as  did  thirty-seven 
of  the  pressed  merchant  ships,  whose  business  it 
was  to  turn  an  honest  penny,  not  to  meddle  with 
edged  tools." 

Just  as  the  armament  was  about  to  sail  from 
the  ba}^  of  Bisca}^,  a  frightful  plague,  which  no 
Aaron  standing  between  the  living  and  the  dead 
was  found  to  stay,  broke  out  among  the  crews  and 
carried  to  the  grave  ten  thousand  men — among  the 
rest,  Don  Pedro  di  Menendez,  the  valiant  and  able 
admiral  of  the  king.  Unable  to  recruit  another 
force  to  fill  this  gap,  unable  also  to  find  another 
captain  of  sufficient  skill  and  experience  to  carry 
out  what  remained  of  the  stricken  armada,  and  in- 
formed of  the  destruction  of  Eequesens'  auxiliaries 
by  Boisot,  Philip  was  compelled  at  the  last  moment 
to  abandon  the  enterprise,!  which,  to  the  devout, 
seemed  a  special  interposition  of  Providence  in  be- 
half of  menaced  Holland. 

In  the  meantime,  the  viceroy,  having  appeased 
his  mutinous  followers,  thought  it  now  expedient  to 
proclaim  an  amnesty,  the  measure  which  he  esteem- 
ed a  certain  cure-all.  All  offenders,  except  a  few 
score  clergymen  who  were  named,  were  informed 
one  bright  day  in  the  summer  of  1574  that  they 
were  pardoned,  but  on  condition  that  within  sixty 
days,  they  should  go  to  confession  and  receive  abso- 

*  Davies,  Hist,  of  Holland,  vol.  2,  p.  7. 
t  Bor. ,  Davies,  ui  anlea. 


738         THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

lution  from  a  ^Driest.*  Gregory  XIII.  confirmed 
tlie  act  by  a  special  bull  for  the  benefit  of  tlie 
penitents.t 

Neyertlieless,  the  Netherlanders,  thinking  them- 
selves more  sinned  against  than  sinning ;  conrin- 
ced,  moreover,  that  to  accept  the  pardon  was  to 
concede  the  victory  by  giving  up  the  very  point  at 
issue — their  right  to  worship  God  at  the  altar  of 
the  Reformation — and  readier  to  go  to  the  grave 
than  to  mass,  united  to  scout  the  amnest3^  But 
two  men  were  found  willing  to  bow  the  knee  to 
BaaL:]:  Had  the  masses  been  anxious  to  enter  the 
Roman  fold  the}-  would  have  distrusted  the  sheep- 
dog, whose  life  thus  far  had  been  spent  in  worry- 
ing the  lambs,  and  whose  fangs  were  not  yet  clean- 
ed of  wool. 

=:-=  Meteren,  book  5,  folio  93.  Hoofcl,  book  9,  p.  3G8.  Pub- 
lished June  Gth,  1574. 

t  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  310.     Bor.,  book  7,  p.  510. 
J  Bor.,  ubi  sup.,  p.  516. 


"FAITHFUL  UNTO  DEATH."  739 

CHAPTEE  XL. 

"FAITHFUL   UNTO  DEATH." 

Leyden,  one  of  the  most  elegant  and  airy  of  me- 
disBval  cities,  was,  in  1574,  a  thrifty,  well-to-do  town 
of  forty  thousand  souls.  Lying  in  the  fat  bottom- 
lands of  Lower  Holland,  as  in  a  cradle,  it  had  Delft, 
Gouda,  and  the  Hague  but  a  few  hours'  walk  away, 
while  Kotterdam  upon  the  left,  Haarlem  on  the  right, 
were  within  easy  reach. 

The  whole  neighboring  country  was  a  labj'rinth 
of  canals  and  rivulets — the  garden  of  the  state  ;  and 
the  good  burghers  were  justly  proud  of  these  pas- 
tures, which  their  persistent  skill  hadP  reclaimed 
from  the  sea  and  fattened  into  fertile  beauty. 
Through  the  centre  of  the  town  the  old  Rhine 
poured  sluggishly  towards  its  sandy  death-bed  on 
the  coast ;  for  though  once  the  main  channel  of 
that  classic  stream,  it  had  been  depleted  by  the 
distribution  of  its  Avaters  into  innumerable  artificial 
currents,  created  to  irrigate  all  Ehynland.  These 
canals  divided  the  site  of  Leyden  into  a  multitude 
of  little  islands,  tied  together  by  a  hundred  and 
forty-five  bridges  of  hammered  stone,  which  were 
equally  subservient  to  the  picturesqueness  of  the 
place  and  to  the  convenience  of  the  citizens.  The 
coup  (Toiil  was  not  unlike  that 

"Where  Venice  sate  in  state,  throned  on  hor  hundred  isles." 


74:0  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

LejTlen  was  an  important  town,  from  its  position 
and  on  its  own  account,  and  the  Spaniards  had  long 
coveted  the  prize.  Alva,  on  running  away  from  de- 
feat and  his  creditors  at  Amsterdam,  had  left  behind 
him  Francesco  di  Valdez,  with  orders  to  invest  the 
place  f  which  that  obedient  soldier  was  doing  when 
Count  Louis'  invasion  obliged  the  duke's  successor 
to  summon  him  off  to  defend  the  frontier.f  Now, 
having  hacked  Nassau  to  pieces  and  gotten  the  reins 
again  upon  the  neck  of  the  army,  Eequesens  deci- 
ded to  resume  the  leaguer. 

On  the  26th  of  May,  1574,  Valdez,  with  eight 
thousand  companion  vultures,  once  more  swooped 
to  batten  iipon  Leyden.'J:  Mindfal  of  Haarlem  and 
of  Alckmaar,  and  informed  that  the  townsfolk  were 
ill-provisioned — had  not  above  three  months'  sup- 
plies withift  their  walls — the  Spaniard  resolved  to 
forego  escalades,  to  jeopard  nothing  by  precipita- 
tion, but  to  isolate  the  place,  and  then  faminize  it 
into  giving  him  a  welcome.§  In  pursuance  of  this 
plan,  all  avenues  of  communication  with  the  outer 
world  were  blocked  up,  the  neighbor  towns  of  Maes- 
landsluis,  Ylaardingen,  and  the  Hague  were  seized 
and  transformed  into  Spanish  citadels,  and  Leydeu 
itself  was  shut  in  by  a  circular  chain  of  sixty-two 
redoubts  which  ran  quite  round  the  city.ll  This 
done,  the  self-satisfied  beleaguerer  smiled  grimly, 

*  Bor.,  book  6,  p.  472. 

t  Hoofd,  book  9,  p.  344.     Meudoza,  torn.  9,  p.  232,  seq. 
X  Bor.,  book  7,  p.  504.  •  >§  Ibid.     Meudoza,  et  alii. 

II  Bentivoglio,  torn.  8,  p.  152.     Bor.,  Hoofd. 


"FAITHFUL  UNTO  DEATH."  741 

pattered  an  ave  maria,  and  qnietly  sat  down  to  see 
his  victims  starve. 

The  town  was  poorly  enough  prepared  to  outlive 
a  siege.  Orange  had  once  and  again  urged  the 
burghers  to  employ  the  interim  between  the  depart- 
ure and  return  of  Valdez  in  strengthening  the  gar- 
rison and  crowding  in  supplies;  "for,"  added  he 
sagaciously,  "  the  Spaniard  will  soon  reappear."* 
But  the  easy-going  townsfolk  doubted  the  prophecy, 
refused  to  look  beyond  the  pleasant  now,  and  heeded 
not  the  warning.  The  consequence  was,  that  on 
the  second  coming  of  Valdez  Leyden  was  only  ordi- 
narily provisioned,  and  stood  absolutely  ungarri- 
soned.  Its  sole  reliance,  under  God,  was  upon  its 
own  train-bands  and  the  cooperating  efforts  of  stadt- 
holder  William. i" 

Nevertheless,  the  citizens,  wasting  no  time  in 
regretting  carelessness  after  the  event,  made  haste 
to  organize  a  manful  resistance.  What  provisions 
there  were  the  authorities  purchased,  and  began  to 
husband  betimes,  placing  all  upon  a  strict  allow- 
ance— a  pound  of  meat  and  half  a  pound  of  bread  per 
day  to  a  full-grown  man,  and  to  the  rest  a  pro  rata 
amount.J  John  Van  der  Does,  geigneur  de  Nord- 
wyck,  was  appoirted  military  commandant.§  A 
consummate  scholar,  he  was  equally  renowned  as  a 
soldier,  poet,  and  liistorian.il     He  was  of  gentle  birth 

■^"  Bor.,  ubi  sup.,  p.  502. 
f  Ibid.,  p.  505.     Hoofd,  uhl  sup.,  p.  302. 
X  Meteren,  book  5,  folio  94.     Hoofd,  Bor. 
§  Bor.,  book  7,  p.  505.     Mendoza,  torn.   12,  p.  254.     Hoofd, 
book  9,  p.  362.  \\  Ibid. 


742  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

witlial;  though,  stamped  with  nature's  signet,  he 
would  have  been  noble  in  despite  of  blood,  had  each 
of  his  fellows  agreed  to  say  with  Sir  Philip  Sidney, 
"  I  am  no  herald  to  inquire  into  men's  pedigrees ; 
it  sufficeth  me  if  I  know  their  virtues." 

Yaldez  had  hardly  gotten  into  position,  when 
several  royalist  Netlierlanders  in  his  camp  opened 
a  correspondence  with  their  rebellious  friends  within 
the  city,  whom  they  urged  to  give  up  the  keys  to  the 
Spaniard,  and  trust  to  his  mercy.  Yaldez  himself 
invited  the  besieged  to  yield,  and  take  shelter  under 
the  cegis  of  his  majesty's  amnesty.  To  all  which 
the  scholarly  commandant  replied  by  sending  back 
a  letter,  in  which  he  cited  a  single  pat  line  from  the 
Latin  poet : 

'Fistula  dulce  eanit,  voliicrem  dum  decipit  auceps."* 

Orange,  by  means  of  carrier-pigeons,  constantly 
flitting  to  and  fro,  sent  frequent  messages  to  the 
citizens,  encouraging  them  to  hold  steadfast  in  the 
defence,  and  assuring  them  of  his  intention  to  ex- 
haust the  resources  of  the  province  in  effecting  their 
deliverance.  "Keflect,"  said  he,  "that  you  contend 
not  for  yourselves  alone,  but  for  us  all."t  The  zeal 
of  the  besieged  was  greatly  inflamed  by  these  mis- 
sives. Not  content  to  stand  idly  on  tlie  ramparts, 
they  made  desperate  sorties  from  time  to  time,  car- 
rying consternation  and  death  into  the  ranks  of  the 
beleaguer.     Eventually,  however,  the  cautious  com- 

''  ' '  The  fowler  plays  sweet  notes  upon  his  pipe,  while  he 
spreads  his  net  for  the  bird."  Hoofd.  book  10,  p.  3G4.  Meteren, 
ubi  Slip.  f  Bor. ,  book  7,  p.  505. 


"FAITHFUL  UNTO  DEATH."  743 

mandant  forbade  his  followers  to  pass  the  gates, 
because  these  conflicts  would,  little  by  little,  weaken 
the  defenders,  already  too  few  to  man  the  walls.* 
After  this,  the  days  passed  without  either  sortie  or 
assault ;  no  animating  sound  of  war,  no  martial  strife 
serving  to  beguile  the  weary  time.  For  Valdez,  true 
to  his  policy,  closely  hugged  his  trenches,  and  de- 
clined attack.f 

By  the  middle  of  August,  notwithstanding  the 
careful  husbanding  of  the  provisions,  want  began 
to  make  itself  felt  in  Leyden.  The  meat  and  bread 
were  eaten  up ;  nothing  remained  but  a  slender 
stock  of  malt-cake.  "  If  not  soon  assisted,"  wrote 
the  citizens  to  the  prince,  "  human  strength  can  do 
no  more.  The  malt-cake  will  I^st  four  days  ;  after 
that,  starvation  stares  us  in  the  face."J 

"William  replied  encouragingly,  "Expect  succor 
hourly,  until  it  comes."§  All  the  time  he  had  been 
busy.  At  the  outset  he  labored  to  recruit  a  force 
equal  to  the  task  of  raising  the  leaguer.  Foiled  in 
this,  he  determined  to  reenact  the  scene  at  Alck- 
maar,  and  invoke  the  ocean  against  the  beleaguei'er. 
By  flooding  Bhynland,  the  Spaniard  would  j)roba- 
bly  be  driven  to  decamp;  at  all  events,  a  patriot 
fleet  might  be  floated  into  Leyden  with  a  plentiful 
store  of  rations  and  men.H  It  was  a  desperate  proj- 
ect, but  Orange  was  a  desperate  man. 

*  Hoofd,  book  9,  p.  366.    Bor.,  book  7,  p.  552. 

f  Mendoza,  Bentivoglio. 

X  Jan  Frugliers ;  cited  in  Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  560. 

§  Ibid.  |]  Hoofd,  uhi  sup.     Meteren,  book  5,  folio  94. 


744        •  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

He  convened  the  states  at  Delft,  and  laid  his 
plan  before  them.  The  deputies  were  in  doubt. 
Nothing  could  be  more  alien  to  the  feelings  of  the 
Hollanders  than  such  an  act.  To  drain  their  lands, 
to  filch  fresh  territories  from  the  sea,  to  preserve 
the  dykes — these  were  objects  to  the  Dutch  of  con- 
stant attention,  of  immense  expense ;  and  now  it 
was  proposed  to  inundate  the  very  garden  of  the 
province,  to  wash  seven  hundred  thousand  guilders 
out  of  existence  ;  for  the  damage  certain  to  be  done 
w^as  estimated  at  that  sum.*  But  at  length  the 
luminous  eloq.uence  of  the  prince  convinced  the 
doubters  of  the  necessity  of  the  spoliation.  "  Better 
a  drowned  land  than  a  slavish  laud,"  was  the  unan- 
imous cry.f  A  fuifd  was  formally  subscribed  for 
the  accomplishment  of  the  work;  the  men,  the 
ladies,  the  children  of  the  devoted  state  freely  con- 
tributed their  plate,  their  jewels,  their  toys ;  all 
classes  applied  themselves  to  the  demolition  of  bar- 
riers upon  which  the  national  existence  depended; 
laboring  with  an  ardent  industry  equal  to  that  em- 
ployed in  the  annual  repair  of  the  self-same  bul- 
warks. J 

In  the  midst  of  these  exertions,  commenced  early 
in  July,  Orange  was  stricken  down  by  fever.§    Quite 
worn  out  by  anxiety,  by  the  recent  loss  of  his  broth- 
ers at  Mook-heath,  and  by  over-exertion — for  it  was 
•  a  trait  of  his  always  to  mix  his  work  with  his  brains — 

<-'  Strada,  torn.  3,  p.  7. 

t  Hoofd,  id  anted.     Meteren,  ut  aniea. 

X  Ibid.  §  Motlej',  vol.  2,  pp.  560-503. 


"FAITHFUL  UNTO  DEATH."  745 

he  lay  for  some  weeks  tossiug  iu  delirium,  with  death 
for  a  bed-fellow.  His  sickness  paralyzed  the  exer- 
tions of  the  estates ;  all  Holland  seemed  to  hold  its 
breath.  Towards  the  end  of  August,  the  fever  left 
the  illustrious  x^atient,  and  he  improved  the  first 
hour  of  his  convalescence  to  resume  the  interrupted 
preparations  for  the  rehef  of  Leyden.*  The  physi- 
cians protested,  but  to  no  purpose.  "  I  fear  not," 
wrote  he  to  John  Nassau;  "  God  will  ordain  for  me 
all  which  is  necessary  for  my  good  and  my  salva- 
tion. He  will  load  me  with  no  more  afflictions  than 
the  fragility  of  nature  can  sustain. "f 

The  waters  of  the  Yssel  and  the  Meuse,  which 
bounded  two  sides  of  the  alluvial  quadrangle  which 
it  w^as  proposed  to  flood,  had  already  begun  to  pour 
through  the  opened  sluices  and  to  tumble  over  the 
demoHshed  dykes.  Soon  the  whole  basin  between 
Eotterdam,  Delft,  Gouda,  and  Leyden  was  filled.^ 
In  the  beginning  of  September,  two  hundred  flat- 
boats,  built  for  the  occasion,  w^ere  launched,  armed, 
laden  with  provisions,  and  manned  by  eight  hvm- 
dred  Zealanders — ferocious,  battle-scarred  warriors, 
wearing  a  crescent  embroidered  on  their  hats,  with 
the  motto,  "Rather  the  Turk  than  the  Pope"§— 
whom  Boisot,  the  leader  of  the  fleet,  had  brought 
with  him  from  the  Archipelago.il 

With  ringing  cheers,  the  strange  flotilla  pushed 

•-•  Motley,  vol.  2,  pp.  500-563. 

t  Ai-chives  et  Corresp.,  torn.  5,  p.  53. 

t  Bor.,  book  7,  p.  552.     Hoofd,  book  9,  p.  375. 

§  Hoofd,  book  9,  p.  374.     Bor.,  book  7,  p.  552.        ||  Ibid. 

Dutfli  Rcf.  32 


7iG  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

out  upon  the  extemporized  lake,  and  made  for  Lej-- 
den.  Once,  twice  was  its  progress  stayed  by  inter- 
vening dykes,  from  Avliicli  the  enemy,  in  full  posses- 
sion, were  gallantly  dislodged  by  Boisot's  beggars." 
But,  alas,  when  but  a  few  miles  distant  from  the 
starving  town,  the  entire  fleet,  which  drew  but  two 
feet  of  water,  grounded.  The  waves,  diffusing  them- 
selves over  a  broad  expanse,  sufficed  only  to  make 
a  few  puddles  ahead  of  Boisot.  Nothing  more  could 
be  done  until  the  tide  should  rise.f  Worst  of -all, 
this  could  not  happen  until  the  wind,  then  blowing 
steadily  from  the  northeast,  and  thereby  holding 
the  waters  of  the  Meuse  and  the  Zaetermccr — a 
little  lake  about  midway  between  that  river  and  the 
city — in  their  beds,  veered  to  another  point  of  the 
compass.'!  Ere  that  occurred,  the  town  might  be 
taken  or  be  driven  to  surrender,  which  would  ren- 
der the  vast  sacrifice  utterly  unavailing. 

Meantime,  Avith  succor  within  easy  ej-esight, 
Leyden  was  a  prey  to  the  worst  horrors  of  famine. 
The  larder  had  long  been  empty  of  all  wholesome 
edibles.  Now  there  was  no  food  so  odious  that  it 
was  not  esteemed  a  dainty.  Some  ate  vine-leaves 
mixed  with  salt  and  starch ;  others  boiled  the  foliage 
of  trees,  devoured  roots  and  chaff,  and  chopped  the 
skins  of  animals  in  a  little  milk;  women  veiled  their 
faces,  that  their  misery  might  not  be  seen,  and  seat- 
ing themselves  on  heaps  of  refuse,  searched  eagerly 
for  bones,  dried  fish -skins,  and  the  vilest  offal; 

-  Eor.,  uhl  sup.,  p.  554.     Iloofil,  nhi  siq).,  p.  37G,  seq. 

t  Ibid.,  pp.  552,  551.     Ibid.,  p.  375.        %  Ibid.,  Ibid.,  ei  seq. 


"FAITHFUL  UNTO  DEATH."  7i7 

young  girls  ate  the  lap-clogs  with  which  they  had 
been  wont  to  play.*  The  plague,  famine's  hench- 
man, was  at  hand,  making  many  a  merry  meal  on 
the  skeleton  victims — eating  up  eight  thousand  of 
the  inhabitants.  Those  who  survived  could  barely 
drag  their  attenuated  limbs  to  the  ramparts;  and 
often,  on  returning  from  their  watch,  they  came 
back  to  find  their  wives  and  children  dead,  their 
homes  desolate.f 

Hardest  of  all  to  bear  were  the  taunts  of  those 
few  citizens  who  sided  with  the  foe  :  "  Ah  ha  !  where 
now  are  your  relievers  ?  where  linger  these  beggars 
of  whom  ye  wdst?":|;  Once  the  burgomaster,  Van 
der  Werf,  was  surrounded  in  the  street  by  a  starving 
mob,  clamorous  for  food  or  a  capitulation.  Mount- 
ing the  steps  of  the  church  of  St.  Pancreas,  the 
magistrate,  whose  tall,  haggard,  but  imposing  fig- 
ure and  unquailing  eye  commanded  instant  atten- 
tion, shouted  :  "  What  would  ye,  friends  ?  Why  do 
ye  murmur  that  we  do  not  break  our  vows  and  sur- 
render?— a  fate  more  horrible  than  the  agony  we 
now  endure.  I  tell  you  I  have  made  an  oath  to 
hold  the  town ;  and  may  God  give  me  strength  to 
keep  my  oath.  I  can  die  but  once,  whether  by 
your  hands,  or  the  enemy's,  or  by  the  stroke  of  my 
Maker.  My  ov/u  fate  is  indifferent  to  me ;  not  so 
that  of  the  city  intrusted  to  my  care.  I  know  that 
we  shall  starve,  unless  soon  relieved ;  but  starvation 
is  preferable  to  the  dishonorable  death  which  seems 

■~-  Bor. ,  book  7,  p.  556.  f  Ibid.,  id  antea. 

X  Ibid.,  p.  .O.n.     Hoofd,  book  !>,  p.  371. 


718  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

tlie  sole  alternative.  If  my  death  can  serve  you, 
take  it.  Here  is  my  sword :  cut  my  body  into  mor- 
sels, and  divide  it  amongst  you."* 

These  words  kindled  new  enthusiasm  in  all 
hearts.  The  murmurs  ceased.  All  exchanged  fresh 
vows ;  consecrated  themselves  anew  to  the  defence ; 
and  the  feeblest  women  cried:  "Yes,  yes,  death  by 
starvation  before  submission. "t  At  that  very  mo- 
ment Valdez,  who  had  never  ceased  to  urge  capitu- 
lation, sent  a  fresh  summons  into  town.  In  reply, 
all  rushed  to  the  ramparts,  and  shouted  back :  "  Ye 
call  us  rat-eaters  and  dog-eaters,  and  't  is  true.  So 
long,  then,  as  ye  hear  a  dog  bark  or  a  cat  mew  with- 
in our  walls,  know  that  Leyden  still  holds  out.  Nay, 
when  all  save  ourselves  have  perished,  we  will  de- 
vour our  own  left  arms,  leaving  our  right  to  defend 
our  wives,  our  liberty,  and  our  religion.  Should 
God,  in  his  justice,  doom  us  to  destruction,' hope 
not  even  then  to  take  the  town ;  for  when  the  last 
hour  comes,  we  will  fire  our  houses  and  die  to- 
gether— any  thing,  every  thing,  before  submission 
to  tyranny  and  antichrist. "| 

Before  such  a  spirit,  the  Spaniard  himself  began 
to  feel  uneasy.  Moreover,  the  water  was  rising  in 
the  camp.  Nothing  but  the  repeated  assurances  of 
those  natives  who  stood  beside  him  that  the  ex- 
pected deluge  was  a  miracle  beyond  the  prince's 
power  to  work,  kept  Valdez  at  his  post.§ 

"  Metercn,  book  5,  folio  94.     Hooftl,  uhi  sup.,  p,  379,  et  seq. 
f  Ibid.  J  Mcteren  and  Hoofd,  ut  antea. 

§  Bor.,book7,  p.  551. 


•'FAITHFUL  UNTO  DEATH."  749 

The  end  was  nearer  than  any  knew.  On  the 
29th  of  September,  the  long  obstinate  wind  changed, 
and  getting  into  the  right  quarter,  blew  the  refluent 
waters  forward.  A  feAV  hours  later,  the  dry  land 
was  swallowed  by  the  sea,  and  the  stranded  patriot 
armada  Avas  once  more  afloat  and  sailing  on.*  So 
eager  were  the  wild  Zealanders  to  get  at  the  city, 
that  when  shallows  were  to  be  passed,  they  dashed 
into  the  water,  and  by  sheer  strength  shouldered 
their  vessels  through.  Soon  the  girdling  redoubts 
of  the  Spaniard  were  reached,  and  one  after  another 
captured  ;i-  for  though  the  forces  of  Yaldez  outnum- 
bered Boisot's  seamen  ten  to  one,  both  wind  and 
water  fought  with  these,  while  those  were  appalled 
by  the  fierce  onset  of  the  ocean. 

By  the  1st  of  October,  but  two  of  the  enemy's 
forts  remained  untaken,  those  of  Zaeterwoude  and 
of  Lammen  ;  these,  however,  were  the  most  impor- 
tant and  the  strongest  of  the  chain. |  At  midnight, 
in  the  soughing  of  the  equinoctial  gale,  Boisot  again 
slipped  cable,  and  scudded  out  to  assail  these  bar- 
riers. Midway,  he  met  a  fleet  equipped  by  Valdez 
to  stay  his  farther  progress.  In  the  height  of  the 
storm,  in  the  inky  darkness,  the  foes  joined  bat- 
tle, the  flash  of  the  Zealanders'  cannon  lightiug 
up  the  black  waste  of  waters  at  frequent  intervals, 
and  showing  that  the  sentinel  vessels  of  the  Span- 
iard were  being  steadily  pushed  back.  At  last  the 
patriot  artillery  roared  out  a  triumph ;  but   day 

*  Bor.,  book  7,  p.  557.  f  Ibid, 

t  Hoofd,  Bor. ,  Mendoza. 


750  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

j)eepecl  above  the  horizon  ere  the  admiral  could 
moor  his  ships  broadside  to  the  Zaeterwoude  re- 
doubt.* 

The  Spaniards,  however,  had  no  appetite  for  the 
breakfast  prepared  for  them.  Without  waiting  to 
fire  a  gun,  they  rushed  from  the  citadel,  and  poured 
in  a  dense  mass  across  the  fast -crumbling  dyke 
which  stretched  away  towards  the  Hague.  Boisot's 
cannon  belched  forth  rapid  death  as  the  frightened 
fugitives  hastened  past,  while  the  wild  Zealanders 
sprang  after  them  with  boat-hook  and  dagger,  and 
transfixed  many  with  harpoons,  hurled  with  accu- 
racy acquired  in  polar  chases  after  far  different 
prey.  Upwards  of  twelve  hundred  of  them  fell  in 
this  frightful  passage  of  the  dyke ;  the  rest  reached 
the  Hague.t 

But  one  fort  now  separated  the  flotilla  from  Ley- 
den  gates — Lammen — and  towards  that  the  jubilant 
seamen  scudded.  This  too,  on  being  reached,  was 
found  to  have  been  evacuated  in  the  night.  Yaldez 
himself  had  taken  to  flight,  and  his  favorite  fortress 
was  left  with  a  garrison  of  one  little  boy  and  a  white 
flag.J 

The  armada  at  once  headed  for  the  city,  float- 
ing through  groves,  among  the  branches  of  quiet 
orchards,  over  submerged  villages,  quite  up  to  the 
walls  where  stood  the  spent  and  dying,  but  rejoi- 
cing heroes  of  the  siege.     Five  minutes  more,  and 

c-  Hoofd,  uU  sup.,  p.  383.     Meudoza,  torn.  12,  p.  2Gi. 
t  Ibid.     Bor.,    uU  sup.,  p.  558. 
X  Ibid.     Motley,  vol.  2,  p.  573. 


"FAITHFUL  UNTO  DEATH."  751 

the  town  was  saved — plenty  again  reigued  in  Ley- 
den.* 

Boisot  entered  the  place  on  the  morning  of  the 
3d  of  October,  1574,  four  mouths  after  the  begin- 
ning of  the  siege.f  The  stout  admiral's  first  act 
on  stepping  from  his  galley  was,  .to  head  a  solemn 
procession  to  the  great  church  of  Leyden,  where  all 
bent  in  devout  gratitude  before  Him  w^ho  had  so 
marvellously  snatched  the  city  from  the  jaws  of 
death.  .  After  thanks  had  been  rendered  "to  that 
God  v/ho  had  made  them  a  sea  upon  the  dry  laud," 
ten  thousand  voices  joined  in  a  thanksgiving  psalm, 
broken  ere  the  close  by  sobs  and  halleluias.:}: 

Then  the  vast  audience  adjourned,  to  make  pro- 
vision for  the  sick,  and  to  distribute  the  supplies; 
of  which  some  ate  so  greedily  as  to  find  in  the  midst 
of  i^lenty,  that  death  spared  them  by  famine.  §  A 
note  was  speedily  sent  to  the  prince,  informing  him 
that  Leyden  was  succored.  William  received  it 
while  at  church  in  Delft,  and  rising,  with  tearful 
eyes  read  the  good  news  aloud.ll 

Soon  afterwards  he  crossed  over  to  the  town, 
though  still  very  weak  from  his  recent  illness,  that 
he  might  in  person  thank  the  citizens  for  their  ex- 
traordinary courage  and  fortitude.  Not  contenting 
himself  with  empty  words,  he  sent  boats  and  wag- 
ons throughout  the  province  to  collect  charitable 
contributions  for  the  impoverished  townsfolk.     All 

-  Bor.,  lloofd,  Metcren,    ct  alii.  f  Ibid. 

I  Meteren,  book  5,  folio  95.     Hoofd,  book  9,  p.  38G.     Bor., 
book  7,  p.  5G0.  §  Ibid.  []  Ibid. 


752  THE  DUTCH  EEFORMATION. 

connected  with  the  defence  and  succor  Avere  suitably 
rewarded,  and  Boisot  was  presented  with  a  medal 
suspended  from  a  massive  chain  of  gold.*  Even 
the  carrier-doves,  those  faithful  posts,  w^ere  grate- 
fully remembered,  being  kex)t  with  great  care  while 
they  lived,  embalmed  after  death,  and  placed  in  the 
stadthouse,  where  t]iey  still  repose.f 

Two  incidents  which  marked  the  siege  were 
esteemed  by  the  burghers  as  special  interpositions 
of  Providence  in  their  favor.  On  the  very  night 
Valdez  retreated,  twenty  roods  of  the  wall  of  Ley- 
den  suddenly  fell — which,  two  days  before,  would 
have  been  fatal  to  the  town,  but  served  now  only  to 
accelerate  the  flight  of  the  Spaniard,  who  imagined 
the  crash  to  indicate  a  desperate  sortie  of  the  citi- 
zen train-bands.  And  the  day  after  the  town  was 
relieved,  the  wind,  returning  to  the  northeast,  drove 
back  the  rampant  waters  of  the  Mouse  and  the 
Yssel  into  their  wonted  channels,  thereby  enabling 
the  burghers  to  repair  the  dykes,  reclose  the  sluices, 
and  again  reclaim  their  fertile  pastures.:]: 

Still  farther  to  mark  his  appreciation  of  the  her- 
oism of  Leyden,  the  prince  of  Orange  proposed  to 
the  burghers  either  to  found  a  university  within 
their  walls,  or  to  grant  them  permission  to  hold  an 
annual  fair  without  taxation.  With  honorable  pref- 
erence, the  academy  was  chosen ;  but  the  estates, 
judging  that  the  traders  and  the  illiterate  had  shown 

■■'  Bor. ,   tibl  suj). 

f  Vide  Chambers,  Tour  in  Holland,  etc.,  art.  Leyden. 

t  Davies,  vol.  2,  p.  M. 


"FAITHFUL  UNTO  DEATH."  753 

themselves  no  less  strenuous  than  the  wealthy  and 
the  educated  m  the  defence  of  their  fatherland,  de- 
creed both. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  the  famous  University  of 
Lej'den,  the  Oxford  of  Holland,  alma  mate}'  of  the 
grandest  bead-roll  of  alumni  in  the  world,  where 
Grotius  studied,  where  Scaliger  raised  letters  to  the 
stars,  where  Boerhaave  revolutionized  the  theory  of 
medicine,  and  where  John  Robinson,  the  venerable 
pastor  of  our  pilgrim  fathers,  won  wide  fame  in 
disputation  with  Episcopius. 


32* 


751  THE  DUTCH  REFOBMATION. 

CHAPTEE    XLI. 

DIPLOMATIC    "PEACTICE." 

While  the  siege  of  Leyden  was  yet  pending, 
but  more  perceptibly  after  its  miraculous  close,  a 
secret  fencing-match  was  going  on  between  the 
diplomats.  Orange  was  as  closely  besieged  by  let- 
ter-writers as  the  town  by  the  Spaniard's  men-at- 
arms,  and  with  much  the  same  result. 

Kequesens  was  still  anxious  to  end  the  revolt  by 
a  pen-stroke.  All  through  these  months  his  quill 
was  as  busy  as  his  sword,  and  active  for  the 
same  purpose.  He  yet  believed,  notwithstanding 
the  contemptuous  rejection  of  the  royal  amnesty, 
in  the  possibility  of  getting  the  states  to  bite  at  the 
hook,  and  that  too  without  baiting  it  with  any 
measure  which  should  concede,  on  the  angler's 
side,  the  points  at  issue. 

Early  in  1574,  St.  Aldegonde  had  emerged  from 
his  dungeon  on  parole  and  repaired  to  Delft,  armed 
by  the  viceroy  with  power  to  negotiate  what  was 
called  a  peace  ;  but  he  had  been  carefully  instruct- 
ed that  two  questions  were  to  be  omitted  from  dis- 
cussion— his  majesty's  prerogative,  and  freedom  of 
Avorship.*  As  these  were  precisely  the  questions  in 
conflict,  a  parley  which  commenced  by  the  declina- 
tion of  one  of  the  parties  to  consider  them  was 

*  Cor.  de  Guillaume  Ic  Tacituruo,  torn.  3,  p.  400,  ci  scq.  Bor., 
book  7,  p.  53L 


DIPLOMATIC    "PRACTICE. "  755 

death-marked  from  the  outset.  However,  the  dis- 
tinguished euvoj  performed  his  mission,  held  inter- 
views with  Orange  and  the  estates,  and  was,  of 
course,  unsuccessful ;  whereupon  he  returned  to 
Brussels  and  reentered  prison,  whence  he  did  not 
again  emerge  till  autumn,  when  events  struck  off 
his  shackles.*  He  took  back  with  him  an  elab- 
orate paper,  drawn  up  in  the  name  of  the  acting 
government  of  the  revolted  provinces,  and  address- 
ed to  the  king  of  Spain,  in  which  three  conditions- 
precedent  to  a  pacification  were  announced:  his 
majesty's  recall  of  the  exiles,  the  reestablishment 
of  the  ancient  charters,  and  the  proclaiming  an 
equality  between  religious  creeds,  each  free  from 
each.f  This  document  was  offensive  both  to  Re- 
quesens  and  to  Philip,  though  it  was  merely  the 
counter-statement  of  earnest  men,  made  in  reply  to 
an  absurd  proposal — to  have  been  expected,  like 
the  kicking  of  an  overloaded  gun. 

Champagny,  the  viceroy's  confidential  agent, 
wrote  Junius  de  Jonge,  a  learned  and  astute  repre- 
sentative o^  William  the  Silent,  that  the  king  could 
not  be  expected  to  give  ear  to  such  idle  words. 
"  Indeed,  quotha  !"  was  the  retort ;  "  if  he  does 
prove  deaf  to  our  petitions,  we  will  tell  him,  as  the 
old  Eoman  matron  told  the  emperor  Adrian,  '  The 
potentate  who  has  no  time  to  attend  to  the  inter- 
ests of  his  subjects,  has  not  the  leisure  to  be  a 
sovereign.'  "i 

*  Cor.  dc  Guillaiime,  etc.,  uhl  sup. 

t  Bor.,  book  7,  p.  535,  et  seq.  J  Ibid.,  p.  536,  scq. 


75G  THE  BUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

But  the  grand  commander  would  not  take  No 
for  an  answer.  Some  months  later,  he  deputed  a 
batch  of  new  negotiators  to  seek  out  the  jDrince  and 
treat  secretly  with  him  upon  the  matter  of  his  par- 
don and  reconciliation  with  his  majesty.*  Orange 
was  wont  to  say,  "A  friend  is  cheaply  bought  by  a 
bow;"t  and  therefore  he  received  these  tempters, 
one  after  another,  with  grave  courtesy.  He  was, 
however,  somewhat  plain-spoken  in  these  encoun- 
ters of  wit.  "  I  cannot  treat  without  the  coopera- 
tion of  the  estates,"  said  he ;  "  and  if  I  could,  I 
should  require  no  pardon,  for  I  have  done  nothing 
which  demands  forgiveness.  Besides,  we  can  give 
no  credit  to  the  words  which  come  to  us  from  Ma- 
drid, we  have  been  too  often  cheated.  There  are 
the  provincial  deputies,  speak  to  them.  You  re- 
mind me  that  the  king  is  powerfvil,  and  that  I  am 
weak.  Yes,  I  know  that  his  majesty  is  very  mighty ; 
but  there  is  a  sovereign  yet  more  resistless^  even 
God  the  Creator,  who,  as  I  humbly  hope,  is  on  my 
side.J 

The  discomfited  diplomats  next  waited  upon  the 
estates.  "  You  attempt  to  reap  where  you  have  not 
sown,"  said  the  deputies,  "  when  you  talk  of  pardon 
without  prefacing  it  b.y  the  recall  of  the  troops,  the 
convening  the  states-general,  and  a  guaranty  of  the 
toleration  of  the  reformed  faith."§ 

c  Bor.,  book  7,  p.  585.  Cor.  de  Guillaume  le  Tacituiue,  torn 
3,  p.  403,  et  seq.  t  I>i^  Maurier,  p.  167. 

J  Cor.  de  Gnillaume,  etc.,  uUsup.,  pp.  378-380. 

§  Bor.,  book  7,  p.  5G5,  el  seq.  Gachard,  Cor.,  etc.,  torn.  3,  j 
403,  seq. 


DIPLOMATIC   "PRACTICE."  757 

"William  and  his  friends  of  the  revolutionary 
junta  were  sincerely  anxious  to  "  beat  their  swords 
into  ploughshares  and  their  spears  into  pruning- 
hooks ;"  but  they  craved  an  honorable  peace,  which 
should  not  renounce  the  most  precious  objects  of 
the  war,  make  every  dollar  spent  a  swindle,  and 
render  every  life  lost  a  public  murder.  Across  all 
the  Spanish  plans  of  accommodation  thus  far  open- 
ed the  word  dishonor  was  most  plainly  written.  The 
pet  policy  of  Eequesens,  which  looked  to  recon- 
ciling the  provinces  by  forcing  the  Protestants  into 
exile,  was  peculiarly  obnoxious.  In  a  letter  to  John 
Nassau,  the  prince  wrote,  "There  are  no  papists 
left  in  Holland,  except  a  few  ecclesiastics,  so  much 
has  the  number  of  the  reformed  been  augmented 
through  the  singular  grace  of  God.  'T  is  therefore 
out  of  the  question  to  suppose  that  a  measure  doom- 
ing all  who  are  not  Eomanists  to  exile  can  be  en- 
tertained. We  cannot  desert  our  altars ;  nor  will 
we  consent  voluntarily  to  abandon  for  ever  prop- 
erty, friends,  and  fatherland.  Such  a  peace  would 
be  i^oor  and  pitiable  indeed."* 

As  for  the  king,  he  was  weary  of  the  war,  which 
was  a  constantly-increasing  drain  upon  his  excheq- 
uer ;  for  the  viceroy  found  it  impossible  either  to 
coax  or  to  coerce  the  Netherlands  into  granting  any 
adequate  fund  for  the  support  of  the  struggle,  and 
so  was  forced  to  get  his  dishonored  drafts  cashed  in 
Madrid.t  Nevertheless  Philip,  whose  mind  bigotry 
strait-laced,  was  as  far  as  ever  from  a  willingness 

«  Aicliives  ct  Con-csp.,  torn.  5,  p.  73.         [  Ibid.,  pp.  28-32. 


758  THE  DUTCH  BEFOKMATION. 

to  "  remove  violence  and  spoil,  and  execute  judg- 
ment and  justice."'* 

Thus,  thougli  both  Orange  and  the  king  desired 
peace,  one  could  not  and  the  other  would  not  make 
the  requisite  concessions.  At  this  juncture,  the 
emperor  Maximilian  once  more  stirred  himself  to 
accommodate  the  quarrel ;  this  time  with  an  ear- 
nest wish  to  succeed,  for  he  feared,  unless  a  pacifi- 
cation could  be  negotiated,  fliat  the  German  elec- 
tors would  depart  from  the  house  of  Austria  and 
openly  take  the  field  for  their  Protestant  cousins  in 
the  states.t 

Having  received  authority  from  Philip  to  medi- 
ate, he  transferred  his  powers  to  Count  Schwartz- 
burg,  William's  brother-in-law,  and  despatched  him 
post  to  Dort  to  confer  Avith  his  illustrious  ldusman.| 
The  prince  received  him  graciously,  and  out  of 
respect  to  the  emperor  consented  to  empower  a 
number  of  his  fi'iends  to  treat  with  the  royal  nego- 
tiators. §  At  the  same  time,  he  was  too  sagacious 
to  expect  much  from  this  convention ;  and  he  has- 
tened to  remind  the  estates  of  Holland  and  Zealand, 
then  in  session,  that  peace,  though  desirable,  might 
be  more  dangerous  than  war.  "  Thei'efore,"  added 
he,  "  let  us  stand  to  arms,  push  all  warlike  prepara- 
tions with  vigor,  and  sign  no  treaty  inconsistent 
Avith  our  charters  and  with  the  claims  of  God."j| 

On  the  3d  of  March,  1575,  the  peace  congress 

•'•  Motley,  vol.  3,  pp.  11, 12.         f  Archives  ct  Cor.,  torn.  5,  p.  81. 
%  Bor.,  Wagenaer,  Hoofd,  d  al.  §  Ibid. 

II  Bor.,  book  8,  p.  595,  scq. 


DIPLOMATIC    "PEACTIGE."  75'J 

met  at  Breda — St.  Aldegonde,  Boisofc,  Junius  de 
Jonge,  and  Paul  Buys  being  present  for  the  states ; 
while  four  ultramontane  diplomats  appeared  for 
Philip.  The  patriot  quartette  opened  the  proceed- 
ings by  demanding  the  withdrawal  of  the  foreign 
troops ;  the  convocation  of  the  states-general ;  the 
legal  recognition  of  the  reformed  religion  as  then 
established ;  leave  for  William  and  the  estates  to 
place  garrisons  wherever  they  might  think  neces- 
sary ;  the  restoration  of  their  estates  and  titles  to 
those  who  had  suftered  during  the  war  ;  the  remo- 
val of  the  new  bishops  ;  the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits 
from  the  Low  Countries,  as  "  a  pestilent  race,  desi- 
rous of  tumult ;"  an  acknowledgment  of  the  right 
of  the  estates  to  meet  at  Avill,  and  on  the  death  of 
Orange  to  appoint  another  stadtholder  by  their  own 
act  over  Holland  and  Zealand  ;  and  security  for  the 
fulfilment  of  these  terms.* 

The  royal  envoys  took  up  and  scanned  this  pro- 
gramme, drew  their  pens  across  those  clauses  which 
touched  upon  rehgion,  and  replied,  "Mayhap  all 
else  might  be  arranged,  but  we  insist  on  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  mother  church,  conceding  permission  to 
those  who  cannot  conform  thereto  to  retire  from 
the  Netherlands  any  time  within  six  months ;  and  we 
likewise  claim  the  surrender  to  his  majesty  of  all  war- 
like materiel,  and  require  the  placing  six  of  your  chief- 
est  towns  in  his  hands  as  pledges  of  good  faith."t 

«■  FJde  Bor.,  book  8,.p.  598,  d  seq.  Mctcreu,  book  5,  folios 
108,  109.     Bentivoglio,  torn.  9. 

J  Beutivoylio,  liv.  9,  ah  initio.    Mcturuu,  Bur.,  id  antca. 


7G0  THE  DUTCH  KErOKMATION. 

This  response  was,  of  course,  unsatisfactory ;  for 
religion  was  the  main  point  at  issue.  Of  what  use, 
then,  would  be  the  restoration  of  the  ancient  fran- 
chises if  the  whole  population  of  the  states  were  to 
be  expatriated  ?  However,  anxious  to  step  to  the 
verge  of  honor,  St.  Aldegonde  said,  "  We  will  refer 
the  question  of  toleration  to  the  states-general,  if 
you  wish  it ;  but  more  we  cannot  do.  Nor  will  we 
disarm,  nor  yet  give  up  our  towns,  for  that  would 
be  like  the  silly  sheep  in  the  fable,  who  gave  up  their 
watchdogs  to  the  wolves."* 

These  differences  of  opinion  proved  fatal  to  an 
accommodation — the  patriot  delegates  would  not 
desert  their  faith,  the  ultramontauists  would  not 
concede  toleration ;  and  though  they  continued  to 
harangue  each  other  for  nine  months,  referring  this 
claim  and  that  exception,  now  to  the  estates,  and 
now  to  Madrid,  in  the  fall  of  1575  they  separated 
with  increased  bitterness,  these  charging  those, 
those  these,  with  the  whole  fault  of  failure.f 

To  the  prince,  this  negotiation  was  not  so  fruit- 
less as  it  might  seem.  It  had,  at  least,  the  effect 
of  justifying  his  cause  at  the  bar  of  Europe  ;|  it 
served  also  to  conciliate  the  favor  of  the  southern 
provinces,  to  whom  the  projjosal  of  referring  the 
question  of  toleration  to  the  states-general  appeared 
both  judicious  and  equitable ;  Avliile  they  were 
equally  pleased  by  that  clause  in  the  patriot  de- 
mand which  called  for  the  departure  of  the  Spanish 

^-  Bor.,  uhi  siip.  f  Ibid. ,  p.  G12. 

J  Davies,  vol.  2,  p.  18. 


DIPLOMATIC    "PEACTICE."  761 

hirelings.*  Besides,  like  all  discussions  of  first 
principles,  the  conference  opened  to  the  masses  the 
closed  book  of  communal  rights.  John  Nassau  had 
been  fearful  that  the  plausible  mean-nothings  of  the 
king's  advocates  might  cheat  the  Hollanders  into 
assenting  to  some  proposition  which  should  lead 
them  unwittingly  to  "  lay  bare  their  own  backs  to 
the  rod,  and  bring  fagots  for  their  own  funeral 
piles."'!'  On  the  contrary,  the  people,  enhghtened 
from  Breda,  became  more  resolute  than  ever  never 
to  submit.  "Spanish  faith"  they  held  to  be  a 
synouyme  for  "  Punic  faith."  All  saw  that  swords 
were  in  King  Philip's  lips,  and  that  it  was  in  his 
programme  to  reclose  the  Bible,  "pervert  the 
prophets  and  purloin  the  psalms,"  and  crucify 
Christ  anew  in  the  persons  of  his  elect. 

On  the  4th  of  June,  1575,  some  weeks  before 
the  final  adjournment  of  the  diplomats,  an  act  of 
union  between  Holland  and  Zealand  was  solem- 
nized.:]: It  was  a  germ  destined  to  bud  soon  in  the 
important  confederacy  of  seven  provinces  at  Utrecht, 
and  to  flower  eventually  in  the  Dutch  Eepublic. 
By  the  articles  of  this  initial  union,  the  prince  of 
Orange  was  intrusted  with  the  supreme  direction  of 
affairs,  charged  with  the  regulation  of  the  state 
expenses,  and  especially  directed  to  maintain  the 
reformed  evangelical  religion,  and  to  su]jpress  Eo- 
mamsm.§ 

"  Davics,  ul  antea. 

+  Aa-chives,  etc.,  torn.  5,  p.  131,  et  seq. 

I  "Wagenaer,  book  7,  p.  19.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  313.        §  Ibid. 


7o2  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

Against  this  last  enactment  tlie  prince  at  first 
protested;  and  through  his  efforts,  the  word  Ko- 
manism  was  replaced  by  the  phrase,  "religion 
at  variance  with  the  gospel,"  which  left  the  door 
open  for  a  toleration.*  Still  popery  was  for  a  time 
prohibited,  though  the  interdict  was  not  meant 
to  be  definitive,  but  was  done  under  martial  law, 
and  made  lasting  while  the  war  continued,  or  so 
long  as  the  general  safety  should  warrant.  "  For," 
explained  William,  in  speaking  of  this  act  at  a  later 
day,  "  they  who  at  first  judged  it  for  the  best  of  all 
that  one  creed  equally  with  another  should  be  toler- 
ated, were  afterwards  obliged,  by  the  bold  attempts, 
cunning  devices,  and  treacheries  of  the  papists  who 
had  insinuated  themselves  into  place  and  power, 
and  then  striven  to  undo  the  state,  to  suspend  the 
Eomish  worship ;  more  esiDecially  since  those  who 
practised  it,  the  priests  particularly,  had  sworn  alle- 
giance to  an  outside  power,  the  pope,  laying  greater 
stress  upon  their  oaths  to  hini  than  on  others  taken 
to  our  polity.  And  it  was  a  manifest  injustice  for 
these  folk  to  enjoy  our  privileges,  and  then  take 
advantage  of  them  to  reduce  the  land  into  a  spirit- 
ual thraldom  hateful  to  the  commonwealth."f 

Surely  such  a  measure,  so  necessitated  and  with 
such  limitations,  was  radically  difierent  from  the 
truculent  bigotry  which,  in  time  of  profound  peace, 
with  no  martial  law  to  justify  it,  assumed  to  ransack 
non-conforming  consciences  by  means  of  thumb- 

*  Wagenacr,  uhisitp.,  p.  22.     Arcliives,  etc.,  torn.  5,  p.  272. 
t  Apology  of  Orange,  cited  in  Brandt,  vol.  1,  pp.  307,  308. 


DIPLOMATIC   "PEACTICE."  703 

screws  and  autos-da-fe.  Besides,  iu  tliis  case,  though 
expelled  the  churches,  the  papists  were  permitted 
to  hear  mass  iu  their  owu  homes ;  nor  were  those 
magistrates  who  were  Komauists  ejected  from  their 
offices,  unless,  indeed,  the  ballots  of  their  adversa- 
ries ousted  them  iu  the  elections.  Some,  however, 
remained  in  office  until  death  released  them.* 

This  prohibition  was  but  once  washed  in  blood. 
^\'illiam's  deputy  in  North  Holland,  Diedrich  Sanoy, 
discovered,  or  thought  he  discovered,  a  plot  of  pa- 
pists to  fire  several  of  the  towns  under  his  care,  iu 
aid  of  an  impending  invasion  of  the  Spaniards ; 
whereupon,  in  imitation  of  the  Blood -council  at 
Brussels,  he  set  up  an  extraordinary  court,  before 
which  he  dragged  the  accused,  and  endeavored  to 
rack  from  their  tortured  lips  what  was  styled  a  con- 
fession, in  true  inquisitorial  fashion.f  Before  these 
imitators  of  Juan  Vargas  had  committed  many  mur- 
ders, the  prince  learned  of  the  mischief,  and  at  once 
broke  the  tribunal,  and  liberated  several  of  the  vic- 
tims. J  This  prompt  action  brought  him  honor  in 
all  men's  eyes,  and  it  was  a  general  saying  that 
"  the  prince  embraced  all  the  good  of  whatsoever 
persuasion,  with  fatherly  tenderness  and  impartial 
justice."  § 

The  recent  angry  ending  of  the  peace-congress, 
and  now  the  union  of  Holland  and  Zealand,  laid  the 

-  Brandt,  uhi  sup.,  p.  108. 

t  Ibid.,  p.  315.    Bor.,  torn.  8,  p.  623,    seq.     Hoofd,  book  10, 
p.  412.  X  Ibid. 

§  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  316. 


7C4  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION, 

last  ghost  of  lioj^e  that  any  reconcihation  was  to  be 
looked  for  with-^ijain.  Under  these  circumstances, 
and  considering  the  vast  disparity  between  these 
little  provinces  and  the  mighty,  many-sided  power 
which  Philip  wielded,  William  and  the  estates  felt 
justified  in  offering  the  sovereignty  which  his  maj- 
esty had  forfeited,  and  which  they  at  this  time  rep- 
resented, to  some  potentate  who  should  promise  to 
defend  and  to  guarantee  the  national  liberties. 
Some  time  before,  Orange,  in  one  of  his  interviews 
with  the  "Artful  Dodgers"  sent  by  Eequesens  to 
overreach  him,  had  hinted  at  the  possibility  of  this 
action,  saying :  "  The  land  is  a  beautiful  damsel, 
who  certainly  will  not  be  found  to  lack  suitors  able 
and  wilhng  to  champion  her  against  the  world."* 

The  "damsel"  had  now  come  of  marriageable 
age — ceased  to  be  s^femme  covert — and  it  was  time 
to  assert  her  independence  of  the  whilom  guardian. 
The  first  week  in  October,  1575,  the  estates  met  at 
Delft,  and  voted,  formally  and  unanimously,  to  de- 
pose Philip  II.,  drop  from  all  public  papers  the 
long -retained  fiction  of  allegiance,  and  lodge  in 
William's  hands  the  power  of  selecting  the  succes- 
sor of  the  cast-off  monarch.f 

Here  was  a  "  new  thing  under  the  sun" — a  na- 
tional diet  made  ux3  of  plain  burghers  and  a  few 
small  nobles,  representatives  of  a  little  land  half 
bogs  and  the  rest  marshes,  solemnly  assembling  to 
vote  their  sovereign,  monarch  of  half  the  world,  off 

*  Corresp.  de  Guillaume  le  Tacit.,  torn.  3,  p.  387. 
t  Wagenaer,  book  7,  p.  81.     Bor.,  book  8,  p.  651. 


DIPLOMATIC   "PRACTICE."  765 

the  throne,  for  good  and  sufficient  reasons — blast- 
ing the  dogma  of  regal  divinity  with  the  lightning 
of  democratic  ballots. 

The  question  now  was,  To  whom  shall  the  sov- 
ereignty be  transferred?  The  prince  leaned  per- 
sonally towards  France.  He  had  been  recently 
divorced  from  the  crazy  and  profligate  Anne  of 
Saxony,  whereupon  he  had  espoused  an  escaped 
nun,  Charlotte  de  Bourbon,  a  daughter  of  the  royal 
house  of  France,  and  a  lady  of  piety  and  talent, 
who  drew  him  towards  her  fatherland.*  But  to  this 
alliance  there  were  grave  objections.  The  treaty 
cemented  by  poor  Count  Louis  with  Charles  IX. 
was  "  off"  since  that  monarch's  death,  some  months 
back.  The  accession  of  Henry  III.  had  reconvulsed 
the  kingdom,  and  it  was  thought  that  but  little  real 
j)rotection  could  be  expected  fi'om  a  power  torn  by 
internecine  broils. 

As  for  Germany,  it  was  a  mere  congeries  of 
independent  principalities — a  purely  nominal  state, 
whose  emperor  was  doubly  related  to  the  deposed 
king.  An  excellent  market  to  buy  soldiers  in,  a 
good  powder-magazine,  Germany  was  neither  able 
nor  inclined  to  defend  the  provinces. 

Upon  the  whole,  a  union  with  England  seemed 
most  feasible.  Such  a  connection  might  be  bot- 
tomed upon  mutual  advantages,  the  best  bonds  of 
a  definitive  connection.  Great  Britain  claimed  to 
be  a  bulwark  of  Protestantism.  Between  the  states 
md  her  there  was  an  essential  uniformity  of  faith. 
-  Eor.,  book  8,  p.  600,  scq.     Hume,  Camden. 


7(10  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

The  genius  of  both  peoples  was  maritime;  while  the 
reciprocal  conveniences  of  trade,  the  mastery  which 
would  thus  be  acquired  at  sea,  and  the  readiness 
with  which  Denmark  and  the  Hanse  towns  would 
enter  into  an  alliance  with  the  united  nations  gave 
promise  of  puissance  not  to  be  gainsaid. 

Late  in  December,  1575,  Orange  despatched  a 
trio  of  envoys  to  negotiate  with  Elizabeth.  The 
maiden  queen  received  them  cordially,  but  feared 
equally  to  accept  or  to  refuse  their  offer.  Accept- 
ance would  embroil  her  with  Philip,  and  expose  her 
to  danger  from  the  side* of  Scotland;  refusal  might 
drive  the  provinces  into  the  arms  of  France,  and 
thereby  strengthen  the  Gaul  at  the  Briton's  expense. 
It  was  a  dilemma  whose  either  horn  was  full  of  dan- 
ger. Therefore  her  majesty  temporized — a  species 
of  political  coquetry  in  which  she  was  an  adept. 
After  a  dalliance  of  many  months  at  the  court  of 
St.  James,  the  envoys  of  the  prince  returned  home 
to  report  the  substantial  failure  of  their  mission.* 

Meantime  Kequesens  was  pressing  the  war  with 
renewed  vigor.  He  was,  indeed,  much  hampered 
by  a  want  of  funds,  and  by  the  sharp  denials  and 
prolix  remonstrances  with  which  the  obedient  prov- 
inces invariably  met  his  requests  for  money.f  The 
troops,  too,  ill-paid  as  usual,  frequently  frustrated 
his  favorite  schemes  by  untimely  insubordination. 
And  once  those  soldiers  whom  the  deluge  had  driv- 

*  Camden,  Hist,   of  Queen  Elizabeth,  book  2,    pp,  207-210. 
Eor,,  book  8,  p.  062  ;  book  9,  p.  Gu7.     Metcren,  book  5,  folio  101. 
t  Bor.,  book  7,  pp.  502,  .'JTG,  577,  583. 


DIPLOMATIC    "PEACTICE."  7G7 

en  from  the  walls  of  Leyden  broke  into  such  savage 
niutinj,  that  the  viceroy  was  obliged  to  grant  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  region  which  they  undertook  to 
lay  under  contribution  leave  to  wear  arms  in  their 
own  defence — a  somewhat  dangerous  precedent.* 
Nevertheless,  aided  by  the  skilful  swords  of  Hierges 
and  Vitelli,  the  Spaniard  met  with  no  mean  success 
in  the  work  of  conquest,  smiting  into  submission 
town  after  tov/u  on  the  confines  of  Holland.t 

But  while  these  triumphs  crowned  the  efforts  of 
Eequeseus,  a  parallel  success  attended  the  patriots 
at  sea,  the  giieux  seizing  and  burning  twelve  ships 
built  at  Antwerp  for  coastwise  warfare,  and  shortly 
afterwards,  falling  upon  and  sinking  another  ro}'- 
alist  fleet— part  of  that  equipped  for  conquest  b}'' 
the  king,  but  stayed  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay  by  the 
plague,!  ^^  ^^16  crews  were  trimming  sail  fo]-  Dun- 
kirk harbor.  § 

Nettled  by  these  losses,  stirred  to  action  by  the 
complaints  of  the  Antwerp  merchants  that  their 
commerce  was  clogged  by  the  forays  of  the  patriot 
Zealanders,  and  more  than  ever  convinced  of  the 
absolute  necessity  of  opening  the  closed  jaws  of  the 
Scheldt,  the  grand  commander  determined  to  make 
one  more  effort  to  reanuex  the  Archipelago. 

His  objective  point  was  Zierickzee,  the  capital 
of  the  island  of  Schouwen.    The  island  lay  between 

*  Bor.,  book  7,  p.  581.     Canipaua,  lib.  5,  p.  156. 
t  Hoofd,  book  10,  p.  42-4,  seq.     Bor.,  book  8,  p.  G4G 
X  Chap.  XXXIX.,  pp.  73G,  soq. 
§  Bor.,  Davies,  vol  2,  p.  23. 


708  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

Zealand  and  Holland,  and  the  town  looked  out  upon 
the  ocean ;  its  possession  by  the  Spaniard  would 
at  once  provide  him  with  what  he  lacked  in  this 
outer  territory — a  safe  harbor — and  enable  him  to 
sever  the  easiest  avenue  of  intercommunication  be- 
tween the  revolted  provinces.* 

Having  decided  where  to  strike,  the  how  was 
the  next  thing  to  be  determined.  The  grand  com- 
mander knew  not  how  to  solve  this  problem,  for  the 
estuaries  and  lagoons  swarmed  with  the  flatboats  of 
"  the  beggars  of  the  sea."  Finally,  a  party  of  rene- 
gade Zealanders  volunteered  to  point  out  a  path.t 

Three  islands — Tholen,  Duiveland,  and  Schou- 
wen — formed  the  northern  barrier  of  the  archipel- 
ago. Tholen,  which  adjoins  the  mainland,  already 
held  for  Spain.  Between  this  island  and  its  neigh- 
bor, Duiveland,  stretched  a  shallow  bay,  eight 
miles  wide ;  and  Duiveland  again  was  separated 
from  Schouwen  by  a  frith  about  half  as  broad.  In 
imitation  of  the  feat  of  Mondragone  in  relieving 
Turgoes  three  years  before,  it  was  proposed  to 
wade  across  to  Zierickzee — the  renegades  vouching 
for  the  fordability  of  the  intermediate  waters  at 
ebb  tide.:}: 

After  some  little  hesitation,  Kequesens  resolved 
to  make  the  venture,  although  this  expedition  was 
much  more  desperate  than  that  of  Mondragone, 
more  daring  than  Caesar's  fording  of  the  ThaDies 

•»  Bor.,  Hoofa,  Strada. 

t  Meudoza,  torn.  14,  p.  282.    Beutivoglio,  torn.  9,  p.  1G5. 

X  Il)id. 


DIPLOMATIC    "PRACTICE."  701) 

many  ages  earlier ;  for  in  those  no  obstacle  but  the 
waves  was  to  be  surmounted,, whereas  here,  Orange, 
apprehending  some  such  essaj^,  had  crowded  the 
waters  with  his  most  audacious  seamen,  and  placed 
upon  the  islands  themselves  strong  bands  to  beat 
back  the  invaders,  should  they  make  the  passage 
through  his  fleet.* 

Nevertheless,  the  Spaniards,  who  loved  nothing 
better  than  to  cope  Vitli  what  seemed  impossibili- 
ties, received  the  proposal  to  face  these  manifold 
dangers  with  enthusiastic  cheers.  On  the  27th  of 
September,  1575,  the  force,  eight  or  ten  thousand 
strong,  weighed  anchor  from  Antwerp  and  sailed 
down  the  Scheldt  to  Bergen-op-Zoom.  Disembark- 
ing, they  were  ferried  thence  to  the  island  of  Tho- 
len ;  whence  three  thousand  men,  headed  by  a 
picked  corps  of  two  hundred  pioneers,  crossed  in 
boats  to  Philipsland,  a  half- submerged  and  desert 
islet  hard  by  Tholen.f 

Here  the  peril  began ;  here  the  water  was  to  be 
entered.  At  midnight,  at  neap  tide,  the  adven- 
turers stri]oped  off  their  clothes,  retaining  naught 
but  their  shoes  and  trousers,  slung  their  knapsacks 
around  their  necks,  shouldered  their  pikes  and  mus- 
kets, and  after  a  brief  harangue  from  Requesens, 
plunged  into  the  ford.:]:  Those  who  looked  on  com- 
miserated them  as  devoted  to  assured  death,  es- 

•  Mendoza,  tom.l4, 1).  282.  Bentivoglio,  torn.  9,  p.  165.   Strada, 
torn.  3,  p.  12. 

t  Meudoza,  Bentivoglio,  id  antea.    Bor.,  book  8,  p.  G50. 
t  Hoofd,  book  10,  p.  428.     Bentivoglio,  uhi  sup. 
nutcii  Ri'f.  33 


770  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

posed  as  they  were,  first  to  tlie  cruel  waters,  then 
to  the  guns  of  the  rebel  fleet,  with  no  other  gabions  to 
defend  them  than  their  bodies,  and  at  last,  to  the  ar- 
quebuses of  the  waiting  garrison  upon  the  island.* 

At  the  outset,  the  sky  was  overcast ;  but  sud- 
denly the  darksome  night  was  lit  up  by  burning 
meteors  until  the  blind  heavens  blazed  again — a 
prodigy  repeated  at  intervals  until  dawn.t  The 
Spaniards  hailed  the  display  as  an  auspicious  omen. 
"See,  fellow-soldiers,"  shouted  Osorio  di  Alloa, 
captain  of  the  advance,  "  the  army  of  the  sky  joins 
forces  with  us,  leading  us  to  victory  and  boding 
revenge  upon  our  foes.":j:  Animated  by  this  hope 
of  celestial  aid,  all  splashed  on  over  the  narrow 
ridge  of  submerged  sand,  marching  three  abreast, 
with  the  hissing  waters  at  their  throats. 

About  midway,  they  came  upon  the  patriot 
fleet  stranded  purposely  across  the  ford.  A  mad, 
weird  fight  at  once  began,  though  the  combatants 
could  hardly  see  each  other,  save  when,  for  a  mo- 
ment, the  northern  lights  kindled  the  heavens,  or 
the  cannon  spat  fitful  fire  from  their  mouths.  The 
Zealanders,  not  content  to  do  battle  from  their 
ships,  dashed  into  the  waves  to  grapple  with  their 
antagonists,  whom  they  transfixed  with  their  har- 
poons, or  dragged  from  the  sea-road  with  boat- 
hooks,  or  brained  with  flails.§  Several  hundred  of 
the  royalists  perished  in  these  fights,  either  done  to 

■'•■•  Stracla,  torn.  3,  p.  10,  seq. 

t  Ibid.,  p.  11.     Mendoza,  torn.  l-i. 

X  Strada,  uhi  suj).  §  Mendoza,  torn.  14,  p.  285. 


DIPLOMATIC    "PRACTICE."  771 

deatli  bj  the  fury  of  the  gueux  or  sucked  into  the 
surrounding  whirl-pits.-  The  rearguard,  affrighted 
by  the  onset  of  the  beggars,  and  observing  that  the 
tide  was  rising,  faced  about  and  waded  back  ;t  but 
the  van  pushed  resohitely  on,  sli^Dping  by  their  as- 
sailants in  the  darkness,  or  fighting  their  way  past 
the  wooden  rocks  and  through  the  human  tempest 
to  the  shore  of  Duiveland,  up  which  they  scrambled 
just  at  dawn.:|: 

Here  they  were  met  by  ten  companies  of  French, 
English,  and  Scotch  auxiliaries,  upon  whom  the 
"sea  monsters"  dashed,  although  numb  and  giddy 
with  six  hours'  prior  conflict  with  the  water.  They 
had  no  alternative  but  to  win  a  victory  or  perish ; 
so  they  won  a  victory,  routing  the  allies,  and  killing 
their  commander,  Charles  Boisot,  brother  of  the 
valiant  admiral  of  Zealand§ — from  which  it  should 
seem  that  the  best  weapon  to  conquer  by  is  the 
necessity  of  conquering. 

Presently  the  patriot  flotilla,  imagining  that  the 
whole  Spanish  force  had  passed  the  ford,  made  sail 
for  Zierickzee  to  warn  its  citizens  of  the  impending 
siege — a  blunder  of  which  Requesens  hastened  to 
take  advantage  by  ferrying  the  rest  of  his  troops 
across  the  deserted  estuary  to  Duiveland,  where 
mutual  congratulations  were  exchanged.  || 

"Without  further  adventure,  the  arm}'',  led  this 

*  Strada,  torn.  3,  p.  12. 

f  Meudoza,  xihi  sup.     Hoofd,  book  10,  p.  429. 

X  Ibid.     Strada,  uhi  sup.,  p.  13. 

§  Bor.,  book  8,  p.  G19.     Bentivoglio,  torn.  10,  p.  1G8. 

II  Strada,  uhi  sup. 


772  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

time  by  Mondragone,  passed  the  fritli  from  Duive- 
laud  to  Sclioiiwen ;  and  pausing  but  to  reduce  two 
intermediate  villages — one  of  which,  Benunenede, 
detained  them  by  a  gallant  resistance  of  three 
weeks* — pressed  forward  to  lay  siege  to  Zierickzee. 
By  the  end  of  October  the  place  was  formally  in- 
vested ;t  but  since  the  burghers  were  well  supplied 
with  stores  and  resolute  withal,  the  beleaguerers 
saw  that  success  was  only'  to  be  won  by  a  recourse 
to  the  tedious  and  ruinous  expedient  of  blockading, 
and  that  Zierickzee  was  to  be  another  Haarlem. 

Orange  was  inexpressibly  grieved  by  this  unex- 
pected chapter  of  events.  The  toils  seemed  tight- 
ening about  the  good  cause.  Holland  and  Zealand 
were  now  separated.  No  foreign  power  could  be 
enlisted  to  give  needed  aid  :  England,  France,  Ger- 
many were  alike  deaf  to  the  pleading  voices  of  self- 
interest  and  of  humanity.  The  prince  himself  mo- 
mentarily despaired.  It  was  at  this  time  that  he 
announced  the  desperate  but  sublime  resolution  to 
freight  what  vessels  he  could  collect  with  the  citi- 
zens and  the  moveable  property  of  the  lost  provin- 
ces, burn  the  windmills,  pierce  the  dykes,  open  the 
sluices,  give  back  brave  Holland  to  the  sea,  and 
seek  with  his  dauntless  colonists  a  new  home  in 
some  virgin  land  where  Madrid  and  the  Vatican 
were  names  unknown.:]: 

=»'  Meteren,  book  5,  folio  103.     Meursii  Aiiriacus,  p.  147. 

t  Bor.,  book  8,  p.  G52.  Mendoza,  torn.  14,  p.  293,  seq.  Ben- 
tivoglio,  et  alii. 

%Bor.,ubisup.,  p.  GG4.  Hoofd,  book  10,  p.  443.  Wagenaer, 
book  7,  1).  88,  seq. 


DIPLOMATIC   "PKACTICE."  773 

Happily  for  mankind,  tlie  sacrifice  was  not  de- 
manded. When  all  human  helpers  failed,  God  de- 
scended on  the  scene.  In  February,  1576,  Vitelli, 
the  ablest  and  most  dreaded  of  the  Spanish  cap- 
tains, fell  from  his  litter  and  was  killed.*  On  the 
5th  of  March,  in  the  same  year,  Kequesens  also 
sickened  of  a  fever  in  the  trenches  before  Zierick- 
zee,  and  died.f  His  decease  radically  changed  the 
aspect  of  affairs.  The  dawn  of  a  brighter  day  rose 
from  his  grave  among  tl;ie  marshes. 

'^  Strada,  torn.  3,  p.  13,  et  seq. 

t  Ibid.,  p.   15.     Hoofd,  xM  sup.,  p.  436,  ei  seq.    Bor.,  ubi  sup., 
pp.  6G3-GC.3. 


771  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

CHAPTEE    XLII. 

THE   GHENT   PACIFICATION, 

Intrinsically,  the  demise  of  Eequesens,  great 
merely  by  position,  was  of  little  consequence ;  for 
"  pigmies  are  pigmies  still,  though  perched  on  Alps." 
But  adventitious  circumstances  imparted  unlooked- 
for  importance  to  the  event.  Dying  suddenly,  the 
grand  commander  had  been  thereby  prevented  from 
naming  a  successor,  which  letters-patent  in  his  pos- 
session empowered  him  to  do.  Therefore,  as  the 
custom  was  at  such  junctures,  the  council  of  state 
seated  itself  in  the  vacant  executive  chair,  to  await 
his  majesty's  nomination  of  another  viceroy. 

Such  nomination  the  king,  doubtful  upon  whom 
to  bestow  the  honor,  and  constitutionally  predis- 
posed to  procrastinate,  was  as  yet  unwilling  to  make. 
Therefore  he  sent  the  counsellors  full  authority  to 
rule  ad  interim.'^  Aerschot,  Barlaimont,  and  Vig- 
lius  composed  the  regnant  junta ;  but  presently  sev- 
.era,l  others  were  taken  in,  among  the  rest,  Jerome 
di  Ehoda,  one  of  the  blood-judges,  added  hj  royal 
diploma  as  a  kind  of  overseer  of  his  fellows, t 

The  arrangement  was  a  fatal  blunder,  a  make- 

'shift  of  Hopper's  advising;  for  Philip  had  taken 

counsel  with  the  paltering  and  time-serving  keeper 

of  the  seals.     "'Tis  a  devout  man,  that  poor  Mas- 

«?  Meteren,  book  5,  folio  104.     Bor.,  book  9,  p.  GG3,        f  Ibid 


THE   GHENT  PACIFICATION.  775 

ter  Hopper,"  observed  Granvelle,  "  but  rather  fitted 
for  Platonic  researches  than  for  afiah's  of  state."* 
The  interests  of  the  king  demanded  that  his  repre- 
sentative at  Brussels  should  focus  regal  divinity; 
instead  of  which,  this  many-headed  administration 
was  the  most  opaque  of  bodies.  At  this  critical 
hour,  the  welfare  of  absolutism  called  for  the  pres- 
ence in  the  Netherlands  of  a  viceroy  able  either  to 
command  or  to  conciliate  esteem ;  instead  of  which, 
the  state  council  was  a  stench  in  all  men's  nostrils ; 
in  those  of  the  seigneurs,  because  they  despised  to 
be  ruled  by  a  committee  of  their  peers ;  of  the  burgh- 
ers, because  bigoted  Aerschot,  "Hispaniolized" 
Barlaimont,  and  octogenarian  Vigiius  were  gener- 
ally supposed  to  be  politically  dead  and  buried. 
Nothing  could  have  bgen  more  inopportune  for  des- 
potism than  such  a  graveyard  government ;  nor 
more  opportune,  as  the  sequel  showed,  for  liberty. 

For  a  time,  however,  all  went  smoothly.  The 
counsellors  vigorously  prosecuted  the  plan  of  oper- 
ations which  Eequesens  had  sketched  out,  press- 
ing especially  the  siege  of  Zierickzee,  The  change 
occurred  in  March,  1576,  and  until  midsummer  the 
island-city  was  the  pivot  of  affairs.  In  the  trenches 
before  its  walls  were  stationed  the  major  part  of  the 
Spanish  forces — all  save  those  absent  in  the  garri- 
sons of  the  larger  cities  of  the  provinces.  Orange, 
too,  hovered  near,  organizing  to  relieve  the  town.t 
His  efforts  were  fruitless,  or  worse ;  for  in  one  of 

-  Archives  et  Corrcsp.,  torn.  5,  p.  374. 

t  Archives  de  la  Maisou  d'Orauge-Nassau,  torn.  5,  p.  3G5. 


776  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

them  Boisot,  hero  of  the  raising  of  the  siege  of 
Leyden,  and  of  a  score  of  sea-fights  besides,  was 
drowned." 

Finally  the  prince,  his  means  exhausted,  in- 
structed the  gallant  citizens  to  surrender,  if  they 
could  do  so  u23on  honorable  terms.  They  at  once 
opened  a  parley  with  Mondragone,  who  commanded 
the  besiegers ;  and  he,  in  turn,  sent  off  to  Brussels, 
to  inform  the  counsellors  of  their  offer,  and  to  re- 
quest instructions.  The  coterie  were  at  first  unwil- 
ling to  permit  him  to  accept  the  proposed  terms,  as 
they  feared  his  troops  would  mutiny  for  their  pay 
promised  them  when  they  should  have  taken  Zie- 
rickzee.  But  Mondragone  painted  in  such  vivid 
colors  the  want  and  discontent  in  camp,  that  he 
was  given  carte  hlanche  in  the  jnatter.f 

On  the  21st  of  June,  after  a  resistance  of  above 
eight  months,  the  city  struck  its  flag,  the  garrison 
being  permitted  to  march  out  with  the  honors  of 
war,  the  burghers  redeeming  themselves  from  pil- 
lage by  the  payment  of  two  hundred  thousand 
guilders.:]: 

The  fall  of  Zierickzee  was  followed  by  the  pre- 
cise consequences  which  the  counsellors  had  dread- 
ed. The  veterans,  enraged  by  the  non-payment  of 
their  arrears,  chagrined  at  the  escape  of  Zierickzee 
from  sack,  incensed  against  the  impecunious  gov- 
ernment, determined,  as  aforetime,  to  take  the  law 

■''  Archives  de  la  Maisou   d'Orange-Nassau,    torn.  5,    p.    365. 
Hoofd,  book  10,  p.  440. 

t  Bor.,  book  9,  p.  678.     Hoofd,  xM  sup.        |  Ibid.     Meteren. 


THE  GHENT  PACIFICATION.         777 

into  their  own  hands.  King  Philip  owed  them 
moneys,  but  the  provinces  belonged  to  him,  there- 
fore they  were  a  legitimate  prey.  Such  was  the 
syllogism  by  which  the  mutineers  justified  them- 
selves. 

Assembling,  they  deposed  Mondragone,  chose 
a  captain,  swore  mutual  fidelity  over  the   sacred 
host,  left  a  few  of  their  companions  to  hold  their 
hard-won  conquest,  and  then,  abandoning  the  island, 
marched  tumultuously  into  Brabant,  eating  the  land 
bare  as  they  advanced — a  swarm  of  human  locusts.* 
The  frightened  counsellors   despatched   Count 
Mansfeld  to  treat  with  the  mutineers,  arming  him 
for  the  encounter  with  all  but  the  one  thing  need- 
ful— gold.     He  was  met  with  jeers.     "  What  is  it 
you  say  about  tarnishing  our  glory?"  shouted  the 
armed  mob.     "  We  have  had  enough  of  it.     Glory 
can't  be  put  into  our  pockets,  nor  will  it  fill  our 
stomach s."t     Other  mediators  fared  no  better,  be- 
ing met  with  the  ultimatum,  "  Money,  or  a  city  as 
security."!     Not  receiving  either  satisfaction,  they 
swarmed  oif  again,  menacing  first  Mechlin,  then 
Brussels,  and  finally  swooping  upon  Alost,  in  Flan- 
ders, a  rich  old  town  about  equidistant  from  Ant- 
werp and  from  the  capital. § 

Thus  far  the  Spanish  officers — Romero,  D'Avila, 
Mondragone — had  frowned  upon  the  mutiny,  which 
they  were,  nevertheless,  thought  by  the  populace 

•-■  Bor.,  book  9,  p.  G79,  et  seq.     MencToza,  torn.  15,  p.  300. 
•j-  Mendoza,  ubi  sup.  t  Tbu\.    Eor.,  xih'i  sup.,  p.  692. 

§  Ibid.     Beutivoglio,  torn.  9,  p.  173. 
33* 


778  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

to  favor  in  their  secret  hearts.  In  one  of  Chrjsos- 
tom's  homilies,  the  mind  upon  which  first  imjDres- 
sions  have  been  made  is  compared  to  a  pahmpsest 
parchment,  in  which,  however  carefully  reprepared, 
the  old  lines  and  characters  are  sure  to  appear 
peeping  through  the  new  writing.  So  in  the  tabula 
rasa  of  the  captains,  the  Netherlanders  imagined 
they  could  see  beneath  the  denunciation  of  the  mu- 
tiny the  letters  of  a  substantial  sympathy  with  the 
brigands.  In  ever-j)resent  danger  from  the  exas- 
perated masses,  hated  strangers  in  a  foreign  land, 
and  drawn  towards  the  soldiery  by  the  double  mag- 
net of  esprit  du  corps,  and  a  common  peril,  they  at 
last  gave  in  their  adherence  to  the  outbreak,  which 
thus  became  general  throughout  the  provinces.* 
This  accession  gave  the  mutineers  prestige,  and  at 
the  same  time  placed  in  their  hands  the  citadels  of 
Antwerp,  Ghent,  Valenciennes,  and  Utrechtf — for- 
tresses which,  like  the  gigantic  helmet  in  the  fic- 
tion, hung  suspended  in  mid-air,  as  if  ready  to 
crush  the  dwarfed  towns  below. 

Meantime  the  excitement  was  on  the  increase. 
The  masses,  of  all  sects  and  parties,  began  to  arm, 
impelled  by  a  common  hatred  of  the  mutineers. 
On  the  26th  of  July,  the  council  of  state  formally 
banned  the  soldiery — made  it  legal  for  any  man  to 
slay  them  at  sight  ;|  and  this  was  followed,  on  the 
2d  of  August,  by  a  yet  more  stringent  edict.§     Next 

"  Mendoza,  torn.  15,  p.  301.    Bor.,  Hooftl,  ut  aniea. 

t  Ibid.   Cabrera,  tora.  11,  p.  864,  seq.        J  Bor.,  book  11,  p.  693, 

§  Ibid.     Hoofd,  book  10,  p.  445. 


THE  GHENT  PACIFICATION.  779 

the  counsellors  commenced  enrolling  troops.  "  They 
sa}^,"  wrote  the  Spaniard  Verdugo  to  a  friend,  "  that 
'tis  to  put  down  the  mutiny,  but  I  assure  you  'tis 
to  attack  us  all.""  Between  the  patriot  levies  and 
roving  bands  of  the  brigands  the  bloodiest  collis- 
ions were  of  daily  occurrence.f  The  whole  land 
seemed  a  camp.  Anticipation,  spendthrift  of  the 
future,  could  imagine  nothing  sadder ;  memory, 
miser  of  the  past,  could  find  in  the  heaps  of  its  rec- 
ollections nothing  worse  than  the  existing  situation. 
On  getting  news  of  this  commotion  in  the  hith- 
erto obedient  provinces,  the  prince  of  Orange  had 
travelled  post  to  Middleburg,  that  he  might  be  near 
the  scene  of  action,  ready  to  reap  the  harvest  of 
this  wild  sowing.:]:  He  left  Holland  in  comparative 
repose,  the  inhabitants  occupied  in  repairing  the 
ravages  of  war;  for,  physically,  the  provinces  sat 
desolate — seemed  quite  undone.  The  dykes  were 
down,  the  cattle  swept  away,  the  land  half-sub- 
merged; the  country  called  for  recreation.§  But 
no  one  despaired,  and  all  went  to  work — reaping 
more  from  sterility  than  tyrants  could  from  the 
fattest  valleys.  Politically,  there  were  changes  for 
the  better.  The  union  recently  cemented  between 
HolJtiud  and  Zealand,  whose  tenure  was  from  sis 
months  to  sis  mouths,  had  been  renewed  and  made 
closer  in  the  spring  of  1576,  and  repubhcanized 

'~'  Cited  iu  Motlej',  vol.  3,  p.  79. 

f  Hoofd,  uhisiip.,  p.  459.     Strada,  torn.  3,  p.  18,  seq. 

I  Bor.,  ubl  sup.,  p.  C94. 

§  Wagenaer,  book  7,  p.  158,  d  scq. 


780  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

withal;  for  tlie  confederacy  was  a  group  of  virtu- 
ally independent  cities  and  nobles,  represented  in 
tlie  diet  by  deputies  of  tlieir  own  electing.*  Will- 
iam ruled  as  stadtliolder,  and  possessed  large  pow- 
ers of  peace  and  war,  joint  control  witli  tlie  estates 
of  tlie  magistracies  and  courts  of  justice,  and  abso- 
lute supremacy  over  the  army  and  the  fleets.f 

The  little  commonwealth  was  poor;  for  years 
of  single-handed  warfare  with  the  mightiest  cap- 
tains of  the  foremost  military  power  of  Europe  had 
decimated  population  and  half  ruined  trade.  Nev- 
ertheless, here  probity  supplied  the  place  of  wealth. 
The  word  of  these  men  was  held  to  be  as  good  as 
their  bond,  and  either  was  never  known  to  be  pro- 
tested. Within  the  borders  of  Holland  and  Zealand, 
patriot  mutinies,  scenes  analogous  to  those  which  the 
prince  was  watching  from  the  walls  of  Middleburg, 
were  quite  unknown.  At  Haarlem,  at  Alckmaar,  at 
Leydeii,  at  Zierickzee,  when  specie  had  failed  the 
citizens  in  the  long  sieges,  they  issued  promissory 
notes  or  coined  money  of  tin,  which  the  foreign  sol- 
diers, in  their  pay,  received  without  complaint ;  nor 
was  such  traffic  as  remained  embarrassed  by  want 
of  confidence  in  a  circulating  medium  wholly  desti- 
tute of  intrinsic  value.  Behind  every  piece  of  pa- 
per currency,  in  every  tin  coin,  the  holder  saw  the 
pledged  faith  of  the  commonwealth,  and  knew  that 
no  plea  of  distress,  no  complaint  of  extortion,  no 
claim  of  usury  would  be  interposed  to  bar  eventual 
redemption — there  stood  the  promise,  certain  to  be 

*    Vide  Articles  of  Uuioii,  in  Bor.,  book  9,  p.  G20.       f  Ibid. 


THE  GHENT  PACIFICATION.  781 

fulfilled,  unless  William  and  the  estates  went  down.* 
It  was  this  integrity  and  the  boundless  confidence 
which  it  inspired,  that  enabled  this  impoverished 
nook  of  land  to  protract  the  contest  with  Spain  to 
the  ultimate  exhaustion  of  the  Croesus  at  Madrid. 
Philip  conducted  his  exchequer  upon  opposite  prin- 
ciples. On  one  occasion  he  had  incurred  a  debt  of 
some  fifteen  millions  of  ducats  to  Spanish  and  Ger- 
man merchants.  He  paid  his  creditors  by  obtain- 
ing* from  the  pope  a  dispensation  which  permitted 
him  to  revoke  his  engagements,  "lest,"  said  he,  "I 
should  be  ruined  by  usury  while  combating  her- 
esy."!" Is  it  strange  that  the  soldiers  of  the  royal 
repudiator  should  demand  their  wages,  not  in  prom- 
ises, but  in  current  coin  of  the  realm  ? 

When  they  could  not  get  this,  they  mutinied — 
as  they  were  now  doing  in  Flanders  and  Brabant. 
But  while  these  provinces  suffered  from  the  mutiny, 
Holland,  happily  out  of  reach  of  the  marauders, 
gained  by  it ;  for  the  garrisons  of  those  towns 
within  its  borders  of  which  the  Spaniard  had  pos- 
sessed himself  now  deserted  their  posts  and  hur- 
ried south  to  join  their  insurgent  comrades.|  Thus 
by  the  laches  of  the  conqueror,  Haarlem,  Naarden, 
Sparrendam,  and  the  Hague  reverted  to  the  state, 
never  again  to  bow  in  vassalage  to  a  foreign  j)ower. 
Amsterdam,  however,  still  adhered  to  the  royalists, 
which  caused  the  patriots   infinite  vexation,  and 

^  Davies.  Hist,  of  Holland,  vol.  2,  p.  32,  seq. 

f  Metercn,  book  5,  folio  116. 

%  Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  325.     Bor.,  Hoofd,  et  alii. 


782  THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

crippled  the  union."  But  upon  the  whole,  liberty 
and  religion  were  regnant  in  the  confederacy. 

It  was  William's  purpose  to  evoke  a  similar 
order  from  the  southern  chaos.  He  aspired  to 
unite  the  seventeen  provinces  in  one  great  political 
brotherhood.  Hitherto  the  presence  in  Brussels, 
first  of  Alva,  then  of  Requesens,  and  fatal  differ- 
ences of  religion  —  Holland  and  Zealand  unani- 
mously Protestant,  the  sister-states  at  least  half 
Eomanistt — had  prevented  this  "consummafion 
devoutly  to  be  wished."  The  latter  impediment 
still  existed ;  but  the  prevailing  disorders  had  al- 
ready drawn  all  into  closer  relations  with  each 
other,  tiding  over,  at  least  for  the  moment,  the 
quarrel  of  creeds.  Men  of  all  parties  were  now 
clamoring  for  the  expulsion  of  the  foreign  brigands ; 
and  as  the  provinces  had  been  akin  in  their  whilom 
constitutions,  so  at  this  hour  all  seemed  inclined  to 
use  the  crisis  in  effecting  a  restoration  of  the  ancient 
government.! 

These  were  the  rocks  of  William's  hope.  Put- 
ting himself  in  active  communication  with  the  mal- 
contents at  Brussels,  at  Antwerp,  at  Ghent,  he  be- 
gan to  labor  with  a  swift  subtlety  which  no  ken  of 
common  intelligence  could  follow,  precipitating  and 
moulding  events  months  before  his  agency  was 
suspected  by  the  uninitiated.  In  multitudinous  ap- 
peals to  the  respective  estates  and  to  influential 
individuals,    he   touched   the    chords   of    national 

*  Motley,  Tol.  3,  p.  56,  seq.  f  De  Thou,  liv.  62. 

X  Motley,  vol.  3,  pp.  56,  83,  84. 


THE  GHENT  PACIFICATION.  783 

feeling  with  skilful  fingers,  drawing  forth  a  stormy, 
revolutionary  chorus.*  In  the  autumn  of  1576,  the 
result  became  manifest.  The  southern  provinces 
appointed  delegates  to  confer  with  the  representa- 
tives of  Holland  and  Zealand  in  a  grand  interpro- 
vincial  congress  summoned  to  meet  in  Ghent.f 

Meantime  the  burghers  of  Brussels,  convinced 
that  several  members  of  the  council  of  state  were 
secretly  encouraging  the  mutineers,  determined 
upon  a  coup  d'etat.  On  the  5th  of  September,  1576, 
a  revolutionary  committee  burst  in  upon  the  coun- 
sellors in  full  session,  and  placed  that  antiquated 
gathering  under  arrest— laid  them  up  among  otlier 
fossils  in  the  museum  of  history. |  At  the  same 
time  the  Blood  Council,  which  even  since  the  re- 
tirement of  Alva  had  been  spasmodically  active, 
was  suspended,  and  that  too  became  an  antique.§ 
A  few  days  afterwards,  Aerschot  and  two  or  three 
others  of  the  counsellors,  who  had  of  late  assumed 
the  Phrygian  cap,  were  liberated  and  permitted  to 
resume  their  nominal  functions  under  surveillance  ;ii 
the  existence  of  the  council  of  state,  in  some  shape, 
being  essential,  since  it  alone  was  competent  to 
sprinkle  executive  action  with  the  rose-water  of 
legality.     Some  weeks  jirevious  to  this  scene,  one  of 

«  FicZe  the  letters  in  Bor.,  book  9,  pp.  G95,  G96,  702,  seq. 

t  Boi-.,  uhisitp.,  pp.  703,  718,  seq. 

X  Ibid.,  p.  712.  Meteren,  book  5,  folio  197.  Archives  de  la 
Maisou  d'Orange-Nassau,  etc.,  torn.  5,  p.  408. 

§  Aixhives  et  Corresp.,  torn.  5,  p.  406. 

11  Motlej',  uU  sup.,  p.  92.  Davics,  vol.  2,  p.  34.  Meteren, 
book  G,  folios  120,  121. 


784  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

the  counsellors,  Jerome  cli  Ehoda,  scenting  danger, 
had  escaped  to  Antwerp.  Now,  claiming  that  his 
companions  were  in  duress,  he  set  up  his  person  as 
all  that  remained  of  the  outraged  majesty  of  Spain, 
counterfeited  the  royal  seal,  and  gave  to  the  muti- 
neers the  sanction  of  the  law.*  Thus,  as  in  a  for- 
mer centurj^  there  had  been  two  popes — one  at 
Rome,  the  other  at  Ayignon,  both  claiming  to  be 
the  undoubted  successor  of  St.  Peter — so  now  in 
the  Netherlands  there  were  two  representatives  of 
his  majesty,  and  men  were  privileged  to  take  their 
choice. 

On  the  19th  of  October,  1576,  the  interprovin- 
cial  congress  held  its  opening  session  at  Ghent. f 
The  citadel,  built  to  curb,  not  to  protect  the  town, 
was  held  by  the  mutineers,  somewhat  to  the  alarm 
of  the  delegates,  whose  first  act  was  to  solicit  aid 
from  William  for  its  reduction.  :|:  He  willingly  re- 
sponded by  sending  twenty-eight  companies  of  foot ; 
who,  assisted  by  the  burgher  train-bands,  at  once 
besieged  the  castle,  which  was  ably  commanded  by 
the  amazonian  wife  of  Mondragone,.  in  that  veter- 
an's  absence. §  Thus  the  congress  commenced  its 
deliberations  to  the  warlike  music  of  a  cannonade. 

While  these  events  were  afoot,  the  brigands 
were  astir.  On  the  20th  of  October,  the  opulent 
town  of  Maestricht  was  escaladed  and  sacked— 


fi>  Hoofd,  book  30,  p.  449.     Bor.,  book  9,  p.  705. 
f  Bor.,  ubi  sup.,  p.  719,  seq.     Meteren,  book  6,  folio  3. 
i  Meteren,  book  6,  folio  108.     Bor.,  ubi  sup.,  p.  716. 
§  Meteren,  ubi  sup. 


THE  GHENT  PACIFICATION.  785 

stabbing,  drowning,  burning,  and  ravishing  filling 
up  the  measure  of  its  woe.*  About  two  weeks  later, 
what  is  called  the  "Spanish  fury"  occurred  at  Ant- 
werp. The  citadel  which  commanded  that  magnif- 
icent city  was  held  by  Don  Sanchio  D'Avila,  in  the 
interest  of  the  mutineers.  For  some  time  past  the 
citizens,  supported  by  what  levies  they  had  been  able 
to  mass,  had  held  the  garrison  in  close  confinement. 
Don  Sanchio  managed  to  send  word  to  Alost,  the 
headquarters  of  the  mutineers,  of  his  precarious  con- 
tion.  "March  to  my  relief,"  wrote  he,  "else  we 
must  lose  our  hold  on  the  riches  of  these  smug  and 
gold-footed  burghers."t  The  message  was  effect- 
ual. Alost  was  speedily  emptied  of  the  pirate  horde ; 
all  swarmed  off  to  succor  their  imperilled  comrade. 
The  citizens,  apprized  of  their  coming,  rushed  to 
the  city-gates,  resolute  to  defend  their  plethoric 
warehouses  and  their  hearths.  A  furious  fight  en- 
sued. But  the  undisciplined  valor  of  the  multitude 
proved  no  match  for  the  trained  skill  of  the  muti- 
neers. At  dusk  the  assailants,  aided  by  a  despe- 
rate sortie  of  D'Avila  from  the  citadel  and  by  the 
treason  of  the  German  troops  in  the  pay  of  the 
townsfolk,  forced  their  way  through  the  well-defend- 
ed portals,  and  early  evening  saw  them  in  full  pos- 
session of  the  commercial  metropolis  of  Europe.:}: 

Humanity  shudders  at  the  rest.     Antwerp  was 
fired  in  a  hundred  different  quarters ;  and,  lighted  by 

«  Meteren,  ubl  sup.,  folio  109.     Strada,  torn.  3,  p.  21. 
t  Meteren,  book  7,  folio  110.     Hoofd,  Bor.,  et  alii. 
t  Mendoza,  torn.  15,  p.  315.     Meteren,  uM  sup. 


786  THE  DUTCH  BEFOEMATION. 

these  frightful  torches,  the  brigands  spread  through- 
out the  town,  intent  equally  on  robbery,  rape,  and 
murder.  Eaging  up  and  down  like  devils  loosed, 
they  spared  neither  crippled  age  nor  blooming 
youth;  neither  the  feeble  matron,  the  helpless 
maid,  nor  the  wailing  babe.  Houses  and  churches 
vomited  blood.  Not  shrieks,  nor  sobs,  nor  prayers 
could  move  the  pity  of  the  pitiless.*  Every  man- 
sion, every  warehouse  was  ransacked  from  garret 
to  cellar.  The  houses  of  the  foreign  merchants,  of 
the  clergy,  of  the  patricians,  of  the  mechanics  were 
alike  gutted  in  the  fierce  democracy  of  the  sack.t 

Details  need  not  soil  these  pages.  It  shall  suf- 
fice to  note  that,  with  a  loss  to  themselves  of  less 
than  two  hundred  men,  the  Spaniards  slew  upwards 
of  eight  thousand  of  the  burghers,  burned  five  hun- 
dred of  the  costliest  buildings  in  the  world,  pock- 
eted six  millions  of  dollars  in  gold,  and  destroyed 
property  to  twice  that  value.J  Afterwards,  being 
thus  handsomely  in  funds,  and  become  desirous  of 
aping  the  despised  and  plundered  merchants,  they 
sauntered  daily  into  the  exchange,  like  men  accus- 
tomed to  affairs,  wasting  their  gains  in  gambling  at 
the  Bourse,  or  melting  their  blood-spotted  gold  into 
coats-of-mail.§ 

Such  was  the  holiday  of  the  soldiers  of  the  saints 
in  Antwerp,     The  image  of  Him  who  said,  "Love 

■"-  Bor.,book9,  p.  731. 

f  Campana,  lib.  5,  p.  1C5.     De  Thou,,  Bor.,  Hoofd,  at  muUi  alii, 
t  Hoofd,  book  9,  p.  463.     Bor.,    ubi  sup.    Strada,  torn  3. 
§  Motley,  vol.  3,  p.  117. 


THE  GHENT  PACIFICATION.  787 

your  enemies"  and  the  gentle  face  of  the  Madonna 
were  supposed  to  smile  from  heaven  upon  deeds 
which  might  cause  a  shudder  in  the  depths  of  hell." 
Di  Khoda  stood  forth  as  the  apologist  of  the  infa- 
my. "  I  wish  your  majesty  much  good  of  the  vic- 
tory," wrote  he  to  Philip ;  "  't  is  a  very  great  one, 
and  the  damage  to  the  city  is  enormous."t  What 
the  king  thought  is  not  known ;  but  if  silence  gives 
consent,  he  too  may  be  ranked  among  the  pipus 
cynics  who  rejoiced. 

The  "Spanish  fury"  had  one  good  result — it 
decided  the  action  of  the  congress  at  Ghent.  On 
the  8th  of  November,  1576,  four  days  after  the  mas- 
sacre, St.  Aldegonde,  with  eight  others,  commission- 
ers for  Holland  and  Zealand,  and  the  deputies  of 
the  southern  and  middle  provinces,  put  their  hands 
and  seals  to  a  paper  by  which  it  was  unanimously 
agreed : 

That  all  should  pardon  the  past  offences  of  all. 

That,  for  the  future,  the  Netherlands  should 
constitute  an  offensive  and  defensive  alliance — in 
all  else,  each  state  to  retain  its  individuality. 

That  the  Spaniards  should  be  expelled  Avithout 
delay. 

That  all  edicts  against  heresy  and  all  acts  of 
inquisition  should  be  suspended. 

That  in  the  Eomanist  provinces  the  prevailing 
creed  should  suffer  no  injury  by  word  or  deed. 

That  in  Holland  and  Zealand  the  established 
faith  should  be  guaranteed. 

■-■  Mctley,  vol.  3,  p.  106.        f  Cited  in  Bor.,  book  9,  p.  737,  scq 


788         THE  DUTCH  BEPOEMATION. 

That  every  vexed  question  arising  under  the 
compact  should  be  subject  to  the  decision  of  the 
states-general.* 

Such,  in  rough  outHne,  was  the  famous  "  Pacifi- 
cation of  Ghent;"  and  these  were  the  chief  of  the 
twenty-five  articles  which  it  contained,  other  clauses 
bearing  in  the  main  upon  individual  interests.  By 
it,  the  Low  Countries  were  united,  somewhat  loosely 
indeed,  but  still  united,  and  pledged  to  drive  out 
the  brigands.  The  Reformation  was  recognized  in 
the  states  in  which  it  was  dominant,  and  in  the  fif- 
teen ultramontane  provinces  it  was  tacitly  acqui- 
esced in,  since  the  inquisitorial  decrees  were  abro- 
gated. With  the  return  of  the  exiled  Protestants, 
the  gospel  theology  might  haply  become  regnant 
in  the  south,  as  it  was  already  in  the  north.  As 
the  pigeons,  in  their  jourueyings,  carry  in  their 
crops  precious  cargoes  of  undigested  seed — as  the 
swallows  pack  the  interstices  of  their  feathers  with 
tiny,  close-pressed  bales  of  insects,  blessing  with 
their  visits  islands  far  distant  from  any  mainland, 
where  they  drop  their  freight,  and  thus  become  the 
scatterers  of  myriad  generations  of  insect  life,  plant- 
ers of  mighty  forests — so  the  reformers  hoped  that 
here  the  seed  with  which  their  lives  were  freighted 
might  fall  into  good  ground,  and  bring  forth  a  thou- 
sand fold. 

While  the  deputies  were  in  the  act  of  signing 
the  treaty,  they  were  informed  that  the  castle  of 

*  Vide  the  articles  in  Bor.,  book  9,  p.  738,  et  seq.     Meteren, 
book  6,  folio  112,  et  al. 


THE  GHENT  PACIFICATION.         789 

Glieut  had  surrendered  at  discretion  ;*  and  shortly 
afterwards  word  was  brought  that  the  city  of  Zie- 
rickzee,  with  the  whole  island  of  Schouweu,  had 
again  shaken  off  the  recently -imposed  yoke  of 
Spain,  and  rehoisted  the  patriot  banner.f  Thus 
closed  this  memorable  day,  amid  universal  gratu- 
lation,  the  cheering  of  all  parties  save  the  muti- 
neers, and  both  creeds,^  and  the  peal  of  jubilant, 
merry-making  bells. 

In  the  midst  of  the  excitement  attending  these 
occurrences,  Don  John  of  Austria,  whom  Philip 
had  at  length  selected  as  governor-general  of  the 
Low  Countries,  arrived  at  Luxemburg. §  Disguised 
as  a  Moorish  slave  in  the  train  of  a  Castilian  gran- 
dee, he  had  travelled  with  all  speed  to  ripacli  his 
post — only  at  last  to  arrive  too  late,  as  was  the 
common  fortune  of  Spanish  haste.ll  This  was  the 
Odyssey,  as  the  Pacification  was  the  Iliad,  of  the 
epoch. 

•"-  Bor.,  iM  sup.,  ID.  727.     Mendoza,  torn.  16,  p.  326. 

t  Bor.,  uhi  sup.     Hoofd,  book  11,  id.  470. 

X  Strada,  torn.  3,  p.  21. 

§  Hoofd,  ut  aniea,  p.  472.     Bor.,   ut  antea. 

II  Strada,  torn.  3,  p.  19. 


790  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

CHAPTEK  XLIII. 

PRAISE   GOD. 

In  deputing  Don  John  of  Austria  to  govern  tha 
proTinces,  Philip  had  for  once  deferred  to  the  prej- 
udice of  the  Netherlanders  against  foreign  rulers  ; 
for  though  their  new  yiceroy  bore  a  Spanish  brand, 
he  was  not  a  Spaniard.  His  romantic  story  was 
known  of  all  men.  Like  Margaret  of  Parma,  the 
offspring  of  one  of  the  many  illicit  loves  of  Charles 
v.,  his  reputed  mother  was  Dame  Barbara  Blam- 
berg,  who,  before  the  emperor  honored  by  dishon- 
oring her,  had  been  a  washerwoman  of  Eatisbon.* 
Becognized  as  a  son  by  Charles  and  as  a  brother 
by  Philip,  the  imperial  bastard  had  been  liberally 
educated ;  and  now,  at  thirty-one,  stood  haloed 
with  fame  won  at  Lepanto,  and  in  campaigns  against 
both  Ottoman  and  Moriscoe. 

Elegant  and  graceful  in  person  and  deportment, 
lively,  facetious,  affable,  Don  John  was  the  curled 
darling  of  chivalry.  Events  were  soon  to  show  that 
he  lacked  prudence,  patience,  self-command,  and 
dexterity  in  managing  the  passions  and  prejudices, 
of  men — the  precise  qualities  which  the  times  and 
his  role  demanded  in  the  states.  Prom  his  advent 
great  results  were  looked  for  both  at  Madrid  and 
at  the  Vatican.  He  himself  dreamed  of  a  glory 
surpassing  that  of  Lepanto  and  the  Alpuxarras; 

*  Strada,  torn.  5,  p.  16,  et  seq. 


PRAISE  GOD.  791 

for  his  appointment  had  a  double  meaning.  After 
subduing  the  Netherlands,  the  pope  had  stipulated 
with  Philip  that  the  conqueror  should  pass  into 
England  and  Hberate  and  wed  the  captive  queen  of 
Scots,  with  Great  Britain  for  her  dowry,  which 
would  be  a  plausible  title  for  the  house  of  Austria 
to  base  a  war  upon  for  the  dethroning  of  Elizabeth.* 
The  hero  meant,  therefore,  to  placate  the  provinces 
in  a  summary  and  ostentatious  fashion;  then  to 
plume  his  wings  for  a  flight  at  the  higher  quarry. 

Unhappily  for  the  impatient  and  passionate 
dreamer,  he  had  first  to  encounter  the  prince  of 
Orange — an  antipodal  character,  untimely  aged  at 
forty-three,  who  knew  not  seems,  but  inquired  for 
the  is ;  spare  of  figure,  plain  in  apparel,  benignant 
but  haggard  of  countenance,  with  temples  bared  by 
thought  as  much  as  by  the  helmet,  earnest,  devout 
in  manner,  in  his  ov>'n  phrase  "  Calvus  ct  Calvin- 
■26fo."t  "What  chance  of  success  had  the  knight 
errant  in  his  impending  joust  with  the  foremost 
statesman  of  the  age? 

Don  John's  instructions  were  brief  but  preg- 
nant :  "  You  will  bring  about  a  j)acification,  if  pos- 
sible," said  the  king;  "always  maintaining,  how- 
ever, the  absolute  authority  of  the  croAvn  and  the 
exclusive  exercise  of  the  Eoman  faith. "J  How  the 
paradox  of  conciliation  without  concession  was  to 
be  accomplished,  his  majesty  did  not  deign  to  say ; 

*  Strada,  torn.  3,  p.  18.  f  Motley,  vol.  3,  p.  146. 

X  lustniccion   Secreta,  MS.     Cited  iu  Motley,   uhi  sup.,  pp, 
14G,  117. 


792  THE  DUTCH  REFOEMATION. 

but  the  viceroy  seems  not  to  have  noticed  the  omis 
sion. 

On  reaching  Luxemburg,  Don  John's  first  act 
was  formally  to  apprize  the  states-general,  then  in 
session  at  Brussels  under  call  of  the  recent  congress 
at  Ghent,  and  what  remained  of  the  council  of  state, 
of  his  arrival.  "I  shall  not  go  on  to  the  capital," 
added  he,  "  until  I  receive  hostages  for  your  peace- 
able behavior,  a  guard  for  my  own  security,  and 
the  command  of  the  army  and  navy.  I  am  inclined 
to  peace ;  but  if  you  fail  in  these  respects,  you  will 
find  me  no  less  prepared  for  war."* 

This  message,  made  up  of  an  announcement,  a 
demand,  and  a  threat,  perplexed  the  patriot  gov- 
ernment ;  and  embarrassment  soon  became  fore- 
boding, for  intercepted  letters  showed  that  both 
Philip  and  Don  John  were  in  active  corresj^ondence 
with  the  mutineers,  whose  conduct  was  approved, 
whose  faithfulness  was  applauded.f 

Upon  ascertaining  this  fact,  the  states-general 
applied  to  Orange  for  advice.  It  was  readily  given. 
In  a  letter,  varying  through  every  key  in  which 
human  wisdom  could  be  sung,  the  prince  exhorted 
the  national  representatives  to  be  firm,  cautious, 
incisive.  "  Above  all,"  wrote  he,  "  make  no  treaty 
with  Don  John ;  take  no  step  towards  his  reception 
without  swearing  him  to  the  observance  of  these 
conditions-precedent :  the  maintenance  of  the  Ghent 
pacification  in  its  entirety,  the  recall  of  the  Span- 

<*  Vide  his  letter  in  Bor.,  book  10,  p.  761. 
t  Davies,  vol.  2,  p.  40. 


PKAISE  GOD.  793 

isli  troops,  no  fresli  battalions  to  be  recruited  witli- 
out  the  consent  of  tlie  states-general,  the  demoli- 
tion of  the  citadels,  the  recognition  of  the  charters, 
the  assembly  of  the  states-general  at  pleasure.""' 

The  deputies  promptly  determined  to  heed  this 
counsel,  remembering  that  they  who  prorogue  the 
honesty  of  to-day  till  to-morrow,  will  probably  pro- 
rogue to-morrow  to  eternity.  Towards  the  end  of 
November,  1576,  a  committee  waited  upon  his  high- 
ness at  Luxemburg  to  present  the  programme 
which  Orange  had  sketched  as  a  sine  qua  non.f 
Tedious  and  indecisive  negotiations  ensued.  Each 
looked  askance  at  the  other,  the  Netherland  diplo- 
mats stoutly  adhering  to  their  ultimatum,  Don  John 
offering  to  guarantee  any  thing  except  the  essential 
points — eager,  in  Burke's  phrase,  to  "  mortgage  his 
injustice  as  a^pawn  for  his  fidelity." 

Meantime,  the  states-general  were  preparing  for 
the  worst  issue.  The  sieur  de  Sweveghem  was  ac- 
credited to  England,  and  other  envoys  passed  into 
France  and  into  Germany  to  solicit  aid  or  to  cement 
alhances.  At  all  these  courts  they  were  graciously 
received,  Elizabeth  especially  acting  with  unwonted 
frankness  and  alacrity.  She  advanced  one  hundred 
thousand  pounds  in  negotiable  paper,  hinging  the 
loan  upon  the  fair  conditions  that  the  pacification 
should  be  adhered  to,  and  that  no  treaty  should  be 
made  with  Don  John  without  her  assent.:]: 

•»  Vide  Bor.,  book  10,  p.  747,  et  seq. 

f  Ibid.,  p.  7G2,  seq.     Wagenaer,  Vanclervynckt,  et  alii, 

%  Camdeu,  book  2,  p.  215,     Metercn,  book  G,  folio  128,  seq. 

Dutch  Rel.  34 


794         THE  DUTCH  EEFOKMATION. 

Nor  were  tlie  patriots  less  active  at  liome.  Ou 
the  oth  of  Januar}',  1577,  the  "Union  of  Brussels" 
v/as  formed.*  This  pact  covered  the  same  ground 
as  the  pacification ;  but  whereas  that  was  a  diplo- 
matic convention,  subscribed  by  the  deputies  of  the 
contracting  parties  the  states,  this  was  a  popular 
agreement,  signed  by  the  people  at  large — nobles, 
ecclesiastics,  citizens,  peasants,  convened  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  to  the  demands  put  forth  at 
Ghent  the  broad  authority  of  democratic  sanction. f 

At  the  same  time  the  states-general,  as  evidence 
of  the  sincerity  of  their  desire  for  peace  and  the 
statu  quo,  got  the  council  of  state  to  declare  that 
there  was  nothing  in  the  text  of  the  pacification 
hostile  to  the  prerogative  of  his  majesty,  and  pro- 
cured from  the  pedant  doctors  of  Louvain  an  elab- 
orate opinion  that  the  treaty  did  not  conflict  with 
the  supremacy  of  holy  church. |  •  These  papers, 
plentifully  garnished  with  exclamation  points — the 
crutches  upon  which  lame  rhetoric  habitually  hob- 
bles— were  forwarded  to  the  viceroy,  whose  scruples 
they  were  expected  to  satisfy. § 

Thus  supported,  and  assisted  by  mediators  sent 
by  the  new  German  emperor  Eudolph,  who  now 
succeeded  his  father,  the  trimmer  Maximilian,  re- 
cently deceasedjll  the  patriots  resumed  negotiations 
with   Don  John.     For  some  weeks  the  interviews 


<*  Bor.,  book  10,  p.  769.        f  Ibid.     Meteren,book  G,  folio  116. 

X  Bor.,  uU  sup.,  pp.  7CG,  7G8.' 

§  Ibid.     Hoofd,  book  11,  p.  478. 

II  He  died  on  the  12th  of  October,  1576. 


PEAISE  GOD.  705 

■were  bickering  aud  stormy ;  but  in  the  end,  con- 
vinced that  only  so  could  lie  hope  for  success,  and 
fearful  that  longer  delay  might  cause  the  voyage 
into  England  to  slip  out  of  his  hands,  Don  John 
decided  to  accede  to  the  ultimatum  of  the  obstinate 
provinces,  thinking  that,  once  recognized,  it  would 
be  easy  for  him  to  find  or  invent  some  clause  in  the 
agreement  through  which  he  could  drive  the  coach 
and  six  of  absolutism.*  Still  with  an  eye  to  Great 
Britain,  however,  he  insisted  upon  a  proviso  that 
the  troops  should  depart  by  sea.f  In  the  first  flush 
of  triumph,  the  states-general  conceded  so  much ; 
but  suspecting,  on  reflection,  that  some  unknown 
danger  lurked  under  a  stipulation  so  strenuously 
urged,  they  withdrew  their  assent,  pleading  the 
expense  and  delay  which  the  providing  ships  for 
ten  thousand  men  would  necessitate.:]:  Protracted 
and  heated  negotiations  resulted;  but  finally,  the 
patriots  again  carried  their  point.  Don  John 
agreed  to  the  exit  of  the  army  by  land,  and  with 
a  secret  sigh,  deferred  the  darling  aud  roman- 
tic project  which  had  lured  him  to  the  Nether- 
lands.§ 

On  the  17th  of  February,  1577,  the  provinces 
were  officially  apprized  of  the  successful  close  of 
the  conferences  by  the  "perpetual  edict,"  which 
pledged  Don  John  to  the  maintenance  of  the  paci- 
fication of  Ghent,||  and  which,  a  few  weeks  later,  his 

«-  Bor.,  book  10,  p.  775.  f  Ibid, 

t  Davies,  vol.  2,  p.  43.  §  Bor.,  1)ook  10,  p.  486. 

II  Ibid.     Metoren,  book  G,  folios  117,  118. 


70G  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

majesty  formally  approved  in  a  decree  fulminated 
from  Madrid.'^ 

Nevertheless,  Orange  viewed  the  treaty  and  its 
royal  endorsement  with  absolute  disdain.  "Why? 
Because  he  saw  the  trickery  by  which  both  were 
inspired.  "  Call  him  wise,"  says  Lavater,  "  whose 
actions  are  a  clear  because  to  a  clear  why.'"  In  a 
solemn  manifesto  he  warned  the  states-general  of 
the  insidious  danger  that  threatened  the  new  policy. 
"  New  men  come  out  of  Spain,  not  new  purposes ; 
for  in  that  shop  intents  are  always  cast  in  the  same 
mould,"  wrote  he.  "  Be  not  cajoled  by  empty  prot- 
estations and  blotted  parchments.  Vigilance  and 
determination — these  are  alone  trustworthy ;  palla- 
diums these."t  He  refused  to  sign  the  "  perpetual 
edict,"  as  did  also  the  maritime  provinces ;  nor  did 
he  remit  his  warlike  preparations.:]:  Some  better 
bulwark  against  the  returning  tide  of  tyranny  was 
needed  than  the  hollow  promise  of  a  necessitous 
vicero}^,  the  solemn  saws  of  a  timid  council  of  state, 
and  the  quiddities  from  Louvain.§  Events  were 
soon  to  prove  the  accuracy  of  his  proj)hetic  ken. 

At  the  outset,  however,  affairs  tripped  smoothly 
along.  In  the  last  days  of  June,  the  Spanish  bat- 
talions departed,  marching  through  the  crowds  of 
jubilant  spectators  who  lined  the  way  to  see  them 
off  with  sulky,  half-mutinous  mien,  and  comforted 

*  Vandervyuckt,  book  2,  p.  232.     Strada,  torn.  4,  p.  30. 
f  Strada,  uhi  sup.,  p.  33.     Compare  the  letter  in  Bor.,  nbi  sup., 
p.  790.  :j:  Bor.,  Hoofd,  Vaudervj'uckt,  et  aUL 

§  Motley,  vol.  3,  p.  107,  seq. 


PRAISE  GOD.  797 

by  the  reflection  that  the  war,  now  raked  up  in  em- 
bers, would  ere  long  burst  forth  in  fresh  flame,  when 
they  would  be  recalled  to  extinguish  it  *  They 
went  out  laden  w^ith  the  spoils  of  ten  years'  rapine, 
boasting  that  within  six  months  they  had  slain 
thirty  thousand  Netherlanders,  with  a  loss  to  them- 
selves which  was  not  perceptible  by  the  light  of 
their  camp-fires.t  The  popular  rejoicings  were 
dampened  by  the  memory  of  this  slaughter,  by  the 
fear  that  their  exit  was  but  a  feint,  and  by  the  fact 
that  ten  thousand  German  mercenaries,  whose  ar- 
rears the  states-general  had  not  been  able  to  pay, 
still  held  the  provincial  strongholds  for  the  king.:]: 

On  the  1st  of  May,  Don  John  made  his  ofiicial 
entry  into  Brussels,  amid  the  extravagant  plaudits 
of  the  populace,  never  so  happy  as  on  a  show-day, 
and  only  less  excitable  and  volatile  than  the  giddy 
Parisians.  It  was,  as  Dry  den  sang  of  the  Eestoration, 

"  A  very  merry,  dancing,  drinking, 
Laughing,  quaffing,  and  imthinking  time." 

In  the  midst  of  the  revelry,  Yiglius  "  shuffled  off 
this  mortal  coil  "§— dying  not  much  regTctted  by 
any  faction.  A  man  of  prodigious  acquisitions, 
learned  in  both  laws,  the  adroitest  of  politicians, 
he  was  an  egotist  who  Uved  for  liimself  alone;  he 
was  left  therefore  to  be  the  chief  mourner  at  his 
own  funeral.  He  had  been  prominent  in  public 
affairs  now  for  forty  years,  yet  had  never  allowed 

*  Strada,  torn.  4,  p.  32.  f  Grotius,  Ann.,  lib.  7,  p.  70. 

%  Hoofd,  hook  11.     Bor.,  book  10. 
§  He  died  May  8,  1577. 


7:38  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

himself  to  be  betrayed  into  an  lionest  act.  He  had 
doubtless  been  honest  once,  and  he  was  for  ever 
tradinsf  on  that  fact;  but  some  one  has  said  that 
the  worst  of  all  knaves  are  those  who  can  mimic 
their  former  honesty.  Like  Martial's  lawyer — Iras 
et  verba  locant — he  was  in  the  habit  of  hiring  out  his 
words  and  auger,  proportioning  both  to  the  amount 
of  the  fee.  He  was  accustomed  to  say,  "A  good 
lawyer  is  a  bad  Christian,"  and  his  own  life  did  not 
give  the  lie  to  the  device. 

In  Holland  and  Zealand,  the  citizens  took  ad- 
vantage of  the  present  hour  of  sunshine  to  recon- 
struct their  dykes,  and  generally  to  rehabilitate  the 
laud.  In  obedience  to  the  popular  invitation,  the 
prince,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  Charlotte  de  Bour- 
bon, made  a  tour  through  these  little  states  at  this 
juncture,  for  the  purpose  of  marking  the  progress 
of  internal  improvement,  making  suggestions,  pro- 
moting a  closer  union  between  the  towns,  concili- 
ating jarring  interests,  and  strengthening  the  reso- 
lution of  the  masses  to  sustain,  if  need  were,  a 
renewal  of  the  war.  He  was  everywhere  received 
with  tears  of  gladness  and  shouts  of  welcome.  And 
as  he  passed  from  village  to  village,  there  was  one 
continued  cry  of,  "  Father  William  has  come !  F-ather 
WilHam  has  come!"""  This  crown  of  a  nation's 
gratitude  was  the  only  one  which  the  liberator  cared 
to  place  upon  his  brow. 

At  the  request  of  the  burgomaster  of  Utrecht, 
he  visited  that  ancient  Episcopal  see,  reestablishing 
e  Iloofd,  book  12,  p.  520.     Bor.,  book  10,  p.  830 


PEAISE  GOD.  799 

thereby  the  entente  cordiale  which  ere  long  impelled 
that  province  to  adhere  to  the  seaboard  confed- 
eracy.* 

Meanwhile  affairs  at  Brussels  were  drifting  tow- 
ards that  imbroglio  which  the  astute  prince  had 
predicted.  Don  John,  galled  by  the  limitations 
imposed  ujDon  his  authority,  was  making  resolute 
efforts  to  break  through  the  meshes.  He  had  al- 
ready tampered  with  the  German  hirelings,!  and 
he  had  even  gone  so  far  as  to  make  overtures  to 
Orange  —  overtures  which,  it  is  needless  to  add, 
were  received  with  merited  contempt.:]:  The  states- 
general,  apprized  of  these  machinations,  viewed  the 
governor-general  with  daily  increasing  suspicion. 
"  These  people,"  said  he,  "  are  beginning  to  abhor 
me,  and  I  abhor  them  already."§  At  length,  feel- 
ing sure  of  the  mercenaries,  he  determined  to  bring 
matters  to  a  crisis.  Repairing  to  Namur  on  pre- 
tence of  welcoming  Marguerite  de  Valois,  the  fair 
and  frail  wife  of  Henry  of  Navarre,  who  was  pass- 
ing through  that  town  en  route  to  the  baths  of  Spa, 
he  made  a  sudden  attack  upon  the  citadel  of  that 
city,  and  took  it,  exclaiming,  "  This  is  the  first  day 
of  my  regency,  "li 

Thence  he  despatched  a  letter  to  the  states- 

*  Hoofd,  book  12,  p.  520.  Eor.,  book  10,  p.  830.  Wagenaer, 
book  7.  •  f  Ibid. 

J  Vide  CoiTcsp.  do  Guillanroe  le  Taciturue,  vol.  3,  preface,  p. 
liv. ,  seq. 

§  Cartas  del  S.  Dou  Juan,  MS.,  cited  in  Motley,  vol.  3,  p.  I!i2. 
Strada,  torn.  4. 

11  Jlctcrcn,  book  7,  folio  122.     Beutivoglio,  torn.  10,  p,  191:,  seq. 


800         THE  DUTCH  REFOKMATION. 

f^eneral,  alleging,  in  apology  for  this  action,  the 
existence  of  a  plot  to  seize  his  person.  "I  will 
return  to  the  capital,"  wrote  he,  "  when  you  agree 
to  reestablish  me  in  the  rights  of  the  governor-gen- 
eralship, abolish  the  Pacification  of  Ghent,  and  de- 
clare war  against  Orange  and  his  nests  of  heresy  in 
Holland  and  Zealand."-=<- 

This  truculent  epistle  reconvulsed  the  proTinces. 
For  a  while,  indeed,  the  states-general  were  irreso- 
lute and  inclined  to  temporize.  They  deprecated 
the  return  of  war — trade  was  Avhite-lipped  at  the 
thought.  They  were  without  an  army.  The  Ger- 
mans were  in  Don  John's  pay,  and  they  held  the 
citadels  from  Valenciennes  to  Breda.  These  con- 
siderations made  them  half-minded  to  concede  ev- 
er}^ thing  except  warfare  with  the  prince;  and  a 
profuse  interchange  of  protocols,  of  propositions 
and  counter-propositions,  of  crimination  and  re- 
crimination, was  the  resultt — a  parchment  babel. 

Before  any  thing  decisive  had  come  out  of  this 
confusion  of  tongues,  a  discovery  was  made  which 
necessitated  war.  Just  prior  to  his  instalment  at 
Brussels,  Don  John  and  his  confidential  secretary, 
Escovedo,  had  written  in  cipher  to  Philip,  request- 
ing moneys  and  a  fresh  supply  of  troops  against  the 
time  when  the  farce  of  reconciliation  should  end, 
and  the  tragedy  of  force,  the  only  cure-all,  should 
begin;  "for,"  added  they,  "whatever  we  may  seein 
to  think,  our  real  opinion  is  that  the  diseased  part 

*  Bor.,  book  11,  p.  835,  seq.     Metereii,  uhl  sup. 
t  Vide  Motley,  vol.  3,  pp.  2U-'2,75,  pasfiim 


PRAISE  GOD.  801 

of  the  Netherlands  must  be  cut  off."  As  it  fell  out, 
the  courier  lost  this  packet  in  transitu,  and  it  was 
picked  up  on  the  heath  of  Bordeaux,  and  handed 
to  Henry  of  Navarre,  who  sent  it  to  Orange.  The 
prince  had  the  letters  deciphered,  and  then  he  de- 
spatched them  to  the  states-general.*  Perceiving, 
therefore,  the  slight  security  Avhicli  any  contract 
with  Don  John  would  afford,  the  national  repre- 
sentatives at  once  suspended  negotiations,  and  be- 
gan to  prepare  for  war. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  was,  to  expel  the  Ger- 
mans. As  the  patriots  were  without  troops,  they 
determined  to  fight  with  gold — to  bribe  the  hire- 
lings from  the  land.  At  Antwerp,  whose  citadel 
Avas  Don  John's  pillow,  the  first  essay  was  made. 
After  much  running  to  and  fro,  the  burghers  finally 
prevailed  upon  the  mercenaries  to  evacuate  the 
town  in  consideration  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand guilders,  cash  in  hand.  The  parties  were  about 
to  close  the  bargain,  the  last  parley  was  being  held, 
the  merchants  stood  by  with  large  purses  full  of 
gold  to  pay  the  price,  when  suddenly  a  patriot  flo- 
tilla sailed  up  the  Scheldt,  and  fired  three  broad- 
sides among  the  barricades  of  the  soldiers.  With' 
a  shout  of,  "The  gueux!  the  gueuxf  the  Germans 
scattered  and  fled  pell-mell,  leaving  their  baggage 
and  the  fat  purses  behind.  "Within  five  minutes, 
Antwerp  was  free  from  a  garrison  which  had  vexed 
and  pillaged  it  for  twelve  weary  years.t  ' 

»  Hoofd,  book  12,  p.  r)l6.     De  Thou,  lib.  Gl,  cap.  7. 
■f  Bor,  book  11,  p.  855.     HootU,  uhl  sup.,  ]i.  522. 


802  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

The  work  thus  auspiciously  commenced  was 
thriftily  pursued,  and  by  the  autumn  of  1577,  the 
provinces  were  swept  clean  of  the  Germans  by  the 
bloodless  broom  of  burgher  coin.*  As  a  measure 
of  security  for  the  future,  the  liberated  towns  deter- 
mined to  destroy  those  "  nests  of  tyranny,"  the  cit- 
adels. Antwerp  set  the  example.  While  occupied 
in  the  demolition,  the  citizens  found,  lying  in  an 
obscure  crypt,  the  statue  of  Alva,  which  Kequesens 
had  thrown  down.  The  hated  effigy  was  first  drag- 
ged through  the  streets  for  general  inspection  and 
outrage,  and  then  dashed  in  pieces  by  a  thousand 
sturdy  sledge-hammers.f  Soon  afterwards  Ghent, 
Valenciennes,  Utrecht  took  a  similar  holiday,  razmg 
the  castles  amid  hoarse  vivas.'l 

In  September,  1577,  Orange  was  urgently  invi- 
ted by  the  states-general  to  visit  the  capital,  and 
give  them  the  aid  of  his  personal  presence.§  Alone, 
and  against  the  advice  of  his  more  timorous  friends, 
he  immediately  started  on  what  John  Nassau  styled 
"the  gallows-journey  to  Brussels,"||  On  the  23d 
of  the  month  he  entered  the  town,  whose  pavement 
had  been  so  long  unfamiliar  to  his  feet,  where  Var- 
gas had  proscribed  him,  hailed  by  the  mercurial 
and  boisterous  populace  as  friend  and  deliverer.^ 

He  found  three  parties  in  the  state — the  adhe- 

«  Metereu,  Hoofd,  Bor.  f  Strada,  torn,  i,  p.  909. 

X  Meteren,  book  7,  folio  12.5.    Hoofd,  book  12,  p.  524:. 
§  Ibid.     Bor.,  11,  p.  871. 
II  Archives  et  Corresp.,  torn.  6,  p.  215. 

II  Hoofd,  ubi  sup.,  p.  528.     Meteren,  book  7,  folio  126,     Bor., 
vbi  sup.,  p.  873. 


PRAISE  GOD.  803 

rents  of  Don  John,  commonly  called  the  "  Johan- 
ists;"  the  nobles,  led  by  Aerschot,  whom  events 
had  taught  to  hate  the  Spaniard,  but  who  were 
even  more  jealous  of  the  prince,  who  stood  aloof 
from  the  people,  and  were  intent  upon  harvesting 
from  the  troubles  a  crop  of  self-aggrandizement, 
careless  of  the  commonweal;  and  the  patriots,  his 
partisans,  the  great  middle  class,  embracing  the 
wealth  and  the  political  capacity  of  the  Belgic 
provinces — the  controlling  power  when  Pilate  and 
Herod  were  not  at  agreement.* 

As  a  counterpoise  to  the  preponderating  influ- 
ence of  William,  Aerschot  and  his  compeers  resolved 
to  set  up  a  new  governor-general,  who  should  be 
their  creature,  whose  hands  might  be  the  hands  of 
Esau,  but  whose  voice  should  be  the  voice  of  Jacob. 
Secretly,  without  consultation  with  the  states-gen- 
eral, they  opened  a  corresiDondence  with  the  arch- 
duke Matthias,  brother  of  the  German  emperor,  a 
mild  and  pliant  boy  of  twenty.t  His  April  blood 
was  fired  by  the  thought  of  the  proposed  honor, 
and  eagerly  closing  with  the  offer,  he  set  out  in 
disguise  at  midnight  from  Vienna,  without  Ca3sar's 
knowledge,  travelling  post  to  Maestricht,  where  he 
arrived  at  the  end  of  October,  1577.| 

When  the  states-general  got  news  of  his  ad- 
vent they  were  both  surprised  and  angered  ;  indeed 
they  were  about  summarily  to  eject  the  youthful 

*  Motley,  vol.  3,  p.  219. 

f  Bor.,  book.  11,  p.  898,  seq.     Campami,  lib.  6,  p.  191. 

X  Ibid,     noofcl,  book  12,  p.  530. 


804:  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

interloper.  The  keen  good  sense  of  Orange  averted 
the  impending  blow.  This  stumbling-block  which 
the  jealousy  of  his  opponents  had  rolled  into  his  path, 
he  meant  to  transform  into  an  additional  stepping- 
stone  towards  his  goal.  On  his  genius  alone,  as 
Ariadne  on  her  clue,  had  he  to  rely  in  threading  the 
doubtful  and  dubious  mazes  of  this  labyrinth ;  but 
his  genius  was  equal  to  the  emergency. 

He  foresaw  the  advantages  which  might  arise 
from  the  rivalship  into  which  Matthias  had  entered 
with  his  kinsman,  Don  John.  He  thought  it  possi- 
ble that  armed  men  might  spring  from  the  dragon's 
teeth  of  enmity  thus  sown  between  the  German  and 
Spanish  offshoots  of  the  house  of  Austria.  He  es- 
teemed it  well  too  that  the  Romanist  grandees  had, 
by  taking  the  initiative  in  this  scheme,  for  ever 
alienated  the  ousted  viceroy. 

William,  therefore,  fell  cordially  into  the  plot, 
persuaded  the  states-general  into  voting  Aerschot's 
supposed  puppet  into  the  governor-generalship, 
after  reducing  his  authority  to  a  nullity  by  checks 
and  balances,  and  by  this  magnificent  management, 
took  Matthias  wholly  into  his  own  possession,  gain- 
ing one  piece  more  in  the  great  game  which  he  was 
playing  against  his  antagonist  of  the  Escurial.'-' 

At  this  juncture,  Aerschot  having  got  a  hoist 
with  his  own  petard,  was  appointed  stadtholder  of 
Flanders,  with  his  headquarters  at  Ghent,  whither, 
on  the  20th  of  October,  1577,  he  repaired.!     Here, 

*  Motley,  vol.  3,  pp.  276,  277,  281,  seq. 

t  Vandervynckt,  book  2,  p.  27G.    Metcieu,  book  7,  folio  126. 


PKAISE  GOD.  805 

in  the  very  stronghold  of  his  power,  a  fresh  morti- 
fication awaited  him.  He  found  two  demagogues, 
Ryhave  and  Hembyse,  omnipotent  in  the  town,  one 
holding  the  civil,  the  other  the  military  sword,  while 
twenty  thousand  resolute  and  well-armed  men  form- 
ed the  bodyguard  of  the  oligarchs.*  Protestantism 
too  Avas  in  full  possession  of  the  churches.  Aer- 
schot  was  an  ultra  aristocrat  and  a  bigoted  Roman- 
ist, and  he  speedily  assumed  the  task  of  righting 
this  double  wrong.  A  bitter  conflict  of  authority 
ensued.  "  I  will  have  these  anarchs  hanged,"  ex- 
claimed the  enraged  stadtholder  ;  "  yes,  even  though 
Orange  himself  were  at  their  back." 

These  words  caused  an  immediate  outbreak. 
That  same  night,  Eyhave  summoned  the  captains 
of  his  bands,  and  quickly  assembling  the  burghers, 
proverbially  prone  to  rioting,  marched  to  the  hotel 
of  his  excellency,  dragged  him  from  his  bed,  gave 
him  scant  time  to  dress,  carried  him  through  the 
midnight  streets  now  ablaze  with  torches,  and 
plunged  him  into  prison,  whither  he  was  soon  fol- 
lowed by  his  trembling  retinue.f 

William,  on  being  told  the  story,  hurried  off  to 
Ghent,  quieted  the  tumult,  and  persuaded  the  in- 
censed Ghentese  to  liberate  their  captive.:]:  But 
the  indignity  annihilated  Aerschot's  political  im- 
portance. 

On  returning  to  Brussels,  the  prince  found  that 

*  Vandervynckt,  uhi  sup. ,  ei  seq.  Bor. ,  et  al. 
■f  Hooftl,  book  12,  p.  535.  Meteren,  ubi  sup. 
t  Bor.,  book  11,  pp.  905-916. 


80G  THE  DUTCH  BEFOEMATION. 

he  had  been,  in  his  absence,  nominated  "ruward'* 
of  Brabant,  an  office  which  had  long  been  in  dis- 
use^ — the  governor-general  being  stadtholder  of  that 
province  ex  qfficio — but  which  carried  with  it  dicta- 
torial powers.  The  first  use  which  he  made  of  this 
augmented  authority  was  to  promote  what  the  old 
chroniclers  style  the  "nearer  union  of  Brussels," 
under  which  the  notables  again  pledged  themselves 
to  mutual  support,  and  which  rewelded  such  links 
of  the  Ghent  pacification  as  recent  events  Jiad 
broken.* 

At  the  same  time,t  the  states-general  formally 
deposed  Don  John  of  Austria,  banned  him  as  a 
public  enemy,  ordered  him  to  quit  the  provinces 
without  delay,  and  branded  as  traitors  all  who 
should  acknowledge  his  forfeited  authority.:}:  A 
solemn  justification  of  this  act  was  written  in  seven 
different  languages,  and  presented  at  all  the  courts 
of  Europe.§ 

This  decisive  step  was  followed  by  an  embassy 
to  solicit  the  alliance  of  England.  Elizabeth,  always 
jealous  of  Netherland  negotiations  with  any  other 
court,  had  been  somewhat  estranged  by  the  treaty 
with  Matthias.  The  envoys  related  to  her  the  cir- 
cumstances of  his  incoming;  but  she  would  do 
nothing  until  she  received  a  pledge  that  Orange 
should  be  installed  as  heu tenant-governor  of  the 
states.ll     This  being  readily  accorded,  she,  for  the 

*  Motley,  vol.  3,  p.  299.  t  December  7,  1577. 

X  Bor.,  book  11,  p.  916.     Metereu.  §  Bor.,  uU  sup.,  p.  881. 

11  Ibid.,  p.  903.     Camden,  book  2,  p.  221. 


PRAISE  GOD.  807 

first  time,  entered  into  a  coalition  with  the  Low 
Countries  as  an  independent  power,  engaging  to 
send  over  fifteen  thousand  men-at-arms  and  a  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds,  but  on  condition  that  the 
states-general  should  not  make  peace  without  her 
consent,  and  should  agree  to  give  her,  if  need  were, 
similar  assistance.*  It  was  a  thrifty  bargain ;  but 
it  openly  compromised  the  coy  political  coquette. 

On  tlie  18th  of  January,  1578,  Matthias  made 
his  formal  entry  into  the  capital,  receiving  an  ova- 
tion.f  He  Avas  at  once  placed  at  the  prow  of  the 
ship  of  state  as  figure-head,  while  William,  as  lieu- 
tenant-governor, took  the  helm. 

Meantime,  Don  John  was  at  Namur  watching 
these  proceedings  with  grim  complacency,  for  he 
saw  that  at  last  the  pen  was  to  be  superseded  by 
the  sword,  and  he  was  thoroughly  at  home  in  the 
saddle.  "  Now,  sire,"  wrote  he  to  the  king,  '•  noth- 
ing will  do  but  to  pick  up  the  gauntlet."  Philip 
reluctantly  assented,  for  he  had  been  anxious  to 
carry  his  point  by  artifice ;  and  Christendom  once 
more  rang  with  warlike  preparations.  But  suspect- 
ing that  the  brilliant  bastard  had  ulterior  designs 
upon  the  Spanish  crown — his  ambassador  at  Paris 
had  recently  discovered  a  secret  league  between 
Don  John  and  the  duke  of  Guise,  whereby  they 
pledged  themselves  to  "protect"  France  and  Cas- 
tile, which  meant  the  reducing  their  sovereigns  to 
a  state  of  tutelage:]: — he  had  resolved  never  to  en- 

*  Camden,  book  2,  p.  221.  f  Mcteren,  Bar.,  Hoofd. 

t  Dc  Thou,  lib.  Gl,  cap.  8. 


808  THE  DUTCH  KEFOEMATION. 

trust  an  army  to  the  sole  command  of  Lepauto's 
hero.  Therefore  he  now  appointed  Alexander  Far- 
nese,  one  of  the  ablest  soldiers  of  any  age,  general- 
issimo of  the  royal  levies,  and  sent  him  to  lead  back 
from  Italy  those  veterans  over  whose  sulky  outward 
march  the  provinces  had  rejoiced.* 

Farnese  effected  a  junction  with  Don  John  at 
Namur.  Their  united  muster  was  twenty  thousand 
strong  —  seasoned  campaigners,  officered  under 
themselves  by  Mendoza,  Mondragone,  Mansfeld.f 
For  the  purpose  of  affrighting  the  consciences  of 
those  Komauists  who  were  in  the  patriot  service, 
the  pope  had  blessed  this  host,  and  fulminated  a 
bull  analogous  to  those  which  had  stirred  the  cru- 
sades in  the  bj^gone  time.|  Don  John's  banner 
bore  a  crucifix  with  the  inscription,  "  By  this  sign 
I  have  conquered  the  Turks,  and  by  this  sign  I  will 
conquer  the  heretics."§  Philip,  not  to  be  outdone 
by  his  holiness,  accompanied  the  bull  with  a  decree, 
which  prorogued  the  states-general,  annulled  the 
pacification  of  Ghent,  and  cashiered  the  Nether- 
land  magnates.il 

The  states  had  put  into  the  field  a  force  apjjrox- 
imating  the  Spanish  in  numbers,  but  in  all  else 
immeasurably  inferior ;  "  made  up,"  as  John  Nas- 
sau expressed  it,  "  of  very  few  patriots,  but  plenty 

^'  Strada,  torn.  4,  p.  41.  Both  tlie  original  Latin  editions  of 
Strada,  and  an  English  translation — London,  1G50 — have  been 
used  as  convenience  dictated ;  which  will  explain  diversities  in  tho 
citations.  j  Ihid.,  et  seq. 

X  Meteren,  book  8,  folio  148.     Brandt,  vol.  1,  p.  333. 

§  Ibid.  II  Bor.,  book  12,  p.  939,  d  seq. 


PRAISE  GOD.  809 

of  priests,  with  no  lack  of  inexperienced  lads  ;  some 
looking  for  distinction,  the  rest  for  pelf."* 

On  the  31st  of  January,  1578,  these  so  different 
arrays  fell  upon  each  other  at  Gemblours,  on  the . 
confines  of  Brabant.t  Farnese's  dash  decided  the 
day  within  fifty  minutes.  Conjecturing  from  the 
sway  of  the  crossed  and  -tangled  pikes  of  the  raw 
patriot  levies  that  their  line  of  battle  was  disorder- 
ed, he  caught  a  lance  from  his  captain  of  horse,  and 
turning  to  an  aid,  said,  "  Go  tell  Don  John  that 
Farnese,  remembering  the  Eoman,  has  plunged 
into  the  gulf,  hoping  to  bring  thence  a  certain  and 
glorious  victory."!  Then,  followed  by  a  train  of 
gallant  cavaliers,  he  launched  himself  upon  the 
quaking  battalions  of  the  states.  "With  a  loss  to  him- 
self of  twelve  men,  to  the  provinces  of  six  thousand, 
he  sent  his  pasteboard  foemeu  whirling  in  utter 
rout  through  Gemblours  quite  up  to  the  walls  of 
the  panic-stricken  capital§ — another  proof  of  the 
invincibility  of  disciplined  enthusiasm. 

Thinking  that  the  Spaniard  would  next  assail 
Brussels,  the  prince  i^ut  Matthias  in  his  pocket  and 
retired  to  Antwerp,  with  the  states-general  for  a 
retinue.il  Don  John  was  desirous  of  doing  so  ;  but, 
fearful  of  dulling  the  alacrity  of  the  soldiery  by  a 
long  siege,  he  decided  to  postpone  that  pleasure. 
Therefore,  giving  the  insurgent  capital  the  go-by, 

~'  Archives  de  la  Maisou  d'Orange,  etc.,  torn.  6,  p.  227. 
t  Strada,  torn.  4,  p.  -50.  t  Ibid.,  p.  51. 

§  Ibid.    Hoofd,  book.  13,  p.  459.    Cabrera,  torn.  12,  p.  968,  seq. 
11  Strada,  ubi  sup.     Metereu. 


810         THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION. 

ho  Jiiarclied  hither  and  thither,  stringing  Neville, 
and  Louvaiu,  and  Mechlin,  "  that  sweet  city  with 
the  dreaming  spires,"  to  his  saddle-bow.*'" 

These  reverses  were  severely  felt  by  the  patri- 
ots ;  but  they  were  more  than  counter-balanced 
by  the  accession  of  the  wealthy  and  influential  city 
of  Amsterdam  to  the  good  cause,  which  at  this 
eleventh  hour  came  into  the  vineyard,  a  welcome 
laborer.t  Encouraged  by  this  occurrence.  Orange 
pushed  recruiting  with  fi-esli  vigor,  re-collected  the 
troops  dispersed  by  Farnese's  prowess,  and  placed 
affairs  upon  a  broad  war  footing.ij: 

The  remodelled  army  was  inferior,  even  in  num- 
bers, to  the  force  of  the  Spaniard.  Its  commander. 
Count  Bossu — who,  like  Aerschot  and  Havre  and 
Lelain,  had  recently  passed  over  to  the  states — was 
therefore  ordered  to  remain  on  the  defensive  and 
await  reinforcements  now  looked  for  from  England 
and  from  Germany, §  Don  John,  anxious  to  crush 
this  muster  before  the  incoming  of  the  expected 
auxiliaries,  presently  moved  up  to  attack  Bossu, 
entrenched  at  Rymenant.  The  assault  was  bloodily 
repulsed,  chiefly  by  the  valor  of  a  regiment  of  bon- 
nie  Scots ;  whereupon  the  royalists  retired  to  Na- 
mur,  fortified  their  camp,  and,  like  Cimon,  fell  to 
whistling  for  want  of  thought.il 

William  seized  this  opportunity  to  settle  the  dis- 
ordered internal  affairs  of  the  provinces.     The  sole 

*  Strada,  uhl  sup.     Meteren.  f  13or. ,  book  12,  p,  926. 

X  Hoofd,  book  13,  p.  581.  §  Bor.,  book  12,  p.  912,  seq. 

II  Ibid.,  p.  987.     Hoofd,  book  13,  p.  584. 


PEAISE  GOD,  811 

point  of  union  was  a  hatred  of  the  Sj)amard;  in  all 
else  the  heterogeneous  masses  were  at  odds;  city 
ranged  against  city,  sect  raving  against  sect,  anar- 
chy everywhere  rampant.  The  religious  quarrel 
was  especially  pronounced.  Where  the  Romanists 
were  a  majorit}-,  they  meted  and  peeled  those  of 
the  Protestant  faith ;  where  the  reformed  were 
all-powerful,  they  barred  the  papists  from  their 
churches  and  razed  convents. 

As  a  panacea  for  these  ills,  the  prince  got  the 
states-general  to  proclaim  "  a  religious  peace," 
whereby  toleration  was  made  the  law  of  the  laud.* 
This  measure,  meant  to  promote  harmony,  merely 
stirred  a  wilder  chaos;  for  parchment  law  is  Avorse 
than  useless,  unless  supported  by  public  oi^iniou. 
There  was  at  this  time  no  party  in  the  states  suffi- 
ciently enhghtened  to  observe  the  golden  rule  of 
agreement  in  disagreement;  William  alone  had 
mounted  to  that  Christian  height.  Even  St.  Alde- 
gonde  favored  disfranchising  the  papists,  and  also 
the  Anabaptists,  whom  Oi'auge  had  admitted  to 
citizenship  in  Holland.f  "To  all  my  dissenting 
arrows,"  wrote  that  able  diplomat,  "  the  prince  op- 
posed this  shield  of  tolerance.":]:  Peter  Dathenus, 
one  of  the  foremost  of  the  reformed  divines,  on 
this  very  account  denounced  William  as  a  godless 
man,  shrieking  from  the  pulpit,  "  The  prince  cares 
nothing  for  religion."!  And  now  John  Nassau, 
though   favoring  a  religious  peace  in  the  papist 

*  Mctcren,  book  8,  folio  142.    Bor.,  uhl  sup.,  p.  974,  seq. 

t  Brauclt,  vol.  1,  p.  330,  seq.      J  Ibid.   p.  332.       §  IbicL,  vol  1. 


812  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

provinces,  could  see  no  reason  for  extending  it  into 
the  Protestant  states.  The  reformers  eyerywhere 
were  much  of  this  opinion,  scouting  the  new  law, 
and  in  its  very  face  expelling  swarms  of  priests  and 
monks  from  Ghent,  Bruges,  Ypres,  and  Antwerp,* 
The  Romanists  were  even  more  violent  in  their  op- 
position to  the  toleration,  going  so  far  as  to  with- 
hold their  contributions  from  the  necessitous  mili- 
tary chest.f 

At  this  juncture  Prince  John  Casimir,  an  ardent 
German  Protestant,  entered  the  Netherlands  at  the 
head  of  seven  thousand  liorse  and  eight  thousand 
foot,  Elizabeth's  promised  contingent.:]:  His  pres- 
ence added  fresh  fuel  to  the  flame.  The  Walloon 
regiments  in  the  patriot  service  broke  into  open 
mutiny,  assuming  the  name  of  "Malcontents;"  and 
as  a  foil  to  the  count  palatine,  the  states  of  Hai- 
nault,  Artois,  and  French  Planders,  unanimously 
papist,  formally  incited  their  co-religionist,  the 
duke  d'Alenyon,  to  come  to  their  assistance.§  The 
states-general,  hoping  thereby  to  placate  the  Wal- 
loons, sanctioned  this  action,  invested  D'Alen9on 
with  the  sounding  title  of  "  Protector  of  the  liber- 
ties of  the  Low  Countries,"  and  welcomed  the  force, 
twelve  thousand  strong,  which  he  led  in,  with  as- 
sumed cordiaHty.il 

*  Meteren,  book  8,  folio  152.    Bor.,  De  Thou,  et  al. 
t  De  Thou,  lib.  57,  cap.  15.     Strada,  torn.  4. 
t  Meteren,  ubl  sup.,  folio  155.     Hoofd,  book  13,  p.  584. 
^  DeThoxi,  uhi  sup.     Vandervynckt. 

II  De  Thou,  ubi  sup.     VandervjTickt.    Compare  Motley,  vol.  3, 
pp.  337,  341. 


PRAISE  GOD.  813 

Casimir,  jealous  of  D'Aleu90ii,  fell  back  on 
Ghent,  and  ignoring  the  Spaniard,  made  common 
cause  with  the  turbulent  Ghentese  against  the  Wal- 
loons. D'xyen9on  halted  in  Hainault  and  rested 
on  his  arms,  afraid  to  move.  This  then  was  the 
situation — an  army  of  forty  thousand  men,  ill-paid 
and  disorganized,  commanded  by  three  generals  of 
equal  authority,  of  different  nations,  and  of  clash- 
iug  interests:  Casimir,  idle  in  Ghent;  D'Alen9on, 
at  a  stand-still  on  the  southern  frontier ;  Bossu,  en- 
trenched at  Eymenant;  the  Spaniard  watchful  at 
Namur;  distrust  and  dissension  in  all  the  camps, 
and  worse  still,  rampant  among  the  masses.* 

This  poise  of  affairs  was  too  abnormal  to  last. 
On  the  1st  of  October,  1578,  Don  John  of  Austria, 
after  a  week's  sickness,  died  at  Namur,t  from  mor- 
tification at  his  loss  of  prestige,X  as  some  said,  but 
according  to  others,  poisoned  by  Philip's  order, 
who  thus  rid  himself  of  a  brother  who  stood  too 
near  the  throne.  §  A  little  later  in  the  autumn, 
D'Alen9on  disbanded  his  levies,  and  returned  in 
disgust  to  Paris.  |l  Soon  afterwards  Casimir  too, 
after  marching  up  the  hill,  marched  down  again, 
like  the  French  king  in  the  nursery-ballad,  and  re- 
paired to  England  to  explain  his  conduct  to  the 
maiden  queen.lF 

These  events  were  the  signal  for  new  complica- 

*  Davies,  vol.  2,  p.  70,  seq:    Bor.,  Metereii. 

t  Stracla,  torn.  5,  p.  IG.  J  Bor.,  Hoofcl,  Meteren. 

§  Bentivoglio,  Herrera,  Cabrera,  et  alii. 

II  Bor.,  book  12,  p.  12.  H  Ibid.,  book  13,  p.  13,  seq. 


814  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

tions.  The  Walloon  provinces — Freucli  Flanders, 
Hainault,  Artois,  Arras,  Lisle,  Douay — deserted  by 
D'Alencon,  and  now  wholly  alienated  by  differences 
of  faith  from  the  patriot  cause,  formed  a  confeder- 
acy with  each  other,  pledging  themselves  to  stand 
by  the  king,  to  adhere  to  holy  church,  and  to  resist 
the  religious  peace.*  Farnese,  who  had  succeeded 
Don  John  in  the  nominal  governor-generalship  of 
the  Netherlands,  hastened  to  take  advantage  of  the 
schism.  As  Phihp  of  Macedon  had  refuted  the 
wisdom  of  Athens  with  golden  syllogisms,  thereby 
confounding  her  statesmen,  striking  her  orators 
dumb,  and  finally  arguing  the  "  fierce  democracie  " 
out  of  their  liberty,  so  the  wily  Italian  ere  long 
effected  a  reconciliation  between  these  backsliders 
and  Madrid,  with  ducat -reasons.f  For  vv'hat  is  it 
that  Addison  says  ?  "  A  man  who  is  furnished  with 
arguments  from  the  mint  v/iil  convince  his  antago- 
nists much  sooner  than  one  who  draws  them  from 
philosophy." 

This  defection  rang  the  death-knell  of  the  entente 
cordiale.  What  human  wit  could  do,  William  had 
done,  to  mould  irreconcilable  elements  into  concord. 
The  moderation,  the  prudence,  the  skill,  the  self- 
abnegation  of  his  rule — not  even  Komanist  tele- 
scopes could  discern  a  spot  on  the  disc  of  the  rec- 
ord. But  the  odds  were  too  great.  A  love  of  the 
fatherland  was  the  single  point  of  adhesion  between 
the  congeries  of  states.  In  all  else,  not  the  waves 
of  the  sea  were  more  inconstant,  not  Euripus  was 

c  Bor.,  book  13,  p.  10.  f  Motley,  vol.  3,  p.  390,  seq. 


PRAISE  GOD,  815 

more  uncertain.  Upon  this  point  (Tappui  the  prince 
had  seized,  hoping  that  the  sentiment  of  nationality 
might  be  potent  enough  to  charm  down  discord, 
subordinate  the  quarrel  of  creeds,  and  transform 
the  dependencies  of  a  distant  despotism  into  self- 
governing  republics.  For  a  space,  William  was 
successful.  Under  the  stimulus  of  passionate  re- 
sentment, the  provinces  seemed  drawn  irresistibly 
towards  union — as  we  are  told  that  bystanders  were 
drawn  by  the  contagion  of  passion  to  join  in  the 
wild  dances  of  the  Grecian  Ma3nads.  But  it  was 
impossible  that  permanent  crystallization  should 
take  place  where  so  strong  a  dissolvent  as  Boman- 
ism  existed.  In  the  end,  bigotry  proved  stronger 
than  patriotism,  and  now  nothing  remained  of  the 
various  attempts  at  union  save  the  memory  and  a 
few  despised  statutes — the  ghost  of  pacification 
walking  after  the  death  of  the  body. 

As  an  offset  to  this  Belgic  secession,  William 
turned  to  the  north,  and  began  to  spin  the  web  of  a 
new  confederacy.  It  had  long  been  a  favorite  proj- 
ect of  his  to  unif}^  the  states  of  Holland,  Zealand, 
Friesland,  Gruningen,  Overyssel,  Utrecht,  and  Guel- 
derland — seven  provinces  substantially  homogene- 
ous, similar  in  race,  language,  customs,  habits,  inter- 
est, preexisting  incitements  to  brotherhood.  The 
old  alliance  between  Holland  and  Zealand  supplied 
a  nucleus.  The  imperilled  pacification  of  Ghent 
form^ed  a  pretext.  So  the  prince  put  the  diplomats 
to  work.  They  hunted  up  a  musty  pact  between 
Holland  and  Utrecht,  wliich  l)ore  tlie  date  of  1534, 


816  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

cleaned  it  of  cobwebs,  and  declared  it  still  binding.* 
Then  Guelderland  was  taken  in  hand.  As  this  prov- 
ince commanded  the  entrance  of  four  of  the  cLiefest 
of  the  Netherland  rivers — the  Rhine,  the  Waal,  the 
Meuse,  the  Yssel — and  formed  a  frontier  to  the  pro- 
jected commonwealth,  its  securing  was  of  vital  im- 
portance ;t  otherwise,  Friesland,  Groningen,  and 
Overyssel  might  reluct.  After  some  manoeuvring,  this 
was  achieved.  Then,  on  the  23d  of  January,  1579, 
the  deputies  of  the  respective  states  met  at  Utrecht, 
and  solemnly  cemented  the  immortal  union,  which 
bore  the  name  of  that  famous  town,  basing  it  upon 
these  four  broad  principles :  the  perpetual  alliance 
of  the  seven  provinces — one  state  against  all  foes, 
but  each  in  its  internal  government  independent  of 
the  rest ;  the  common  expense  to  be  met  by  taxes 
laid  upon  the  common  purse;  local  disputes  to  be 
adjudicated  by  the  ordinary  tribunals,  interprovin- 
cial  quarrels  by  the  states-general;  and  toleration 
in  religious  differences,  Protestant  and  Romanist 
alike  free  to  worship  God  each  at  his  chosen  altar.:]: 
Such,  briefly  sketched,  was  the  union  of  Utrecht. 
Into  its  nice  checks  and  balances  we  need  not  go. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that,  whether  we  consider  the  crit- 
ical juncture  at  which  it  was  effected,  or  the  results 
with  which  it  was  pregnant,  it  may  be  regarded  as 
a  masterpiece  of  enlightened  and  successful  states- 
manship. By  it,  a  moiety  of  the  Netherlands  res- 
cued their  existence  from  impending  death.     By  it, 

*  Bor.,  book  10,  p.  893,  seq.  f  Davies,  vol.  2,  p.  74. 

%  See  the  Articles  of  Uinou  in  Eor.,  book  13,  pp.  26-30. 


PRAISE  GOD.  817 

the  Dutcli  Eepublic  came  into  being — a  union  closer 
than  the  Swiss  confederacy,  less  democratic  than 
the  Achaian  league ;  like  the  United  States,  a  plu- 
ral unit. 

Above  all,  this  act  thenceforth  guaranteed  the 
Reformation  in  the  United  Provinces;  made  it  an 
accomplished  fact ;  provided  the  hunted  Bible  with 
an  asylum  in  continental  Europe ;  bade  it,  like  the 
angel  in  the  apocalypse,  go  forth  with  bow  and 
crown,  conquering  and  to  conquer. 

By  the  union  of  Utrecht,  Philip  II.  received 
notice  that  even  his  nominal  sovereignty  was  abol- 
ished in  the  maritime  provinces.  Furious  thereat, 
he  commanded  Farnese  to  take  the  field  and  press 
the  war  with  all  possible  rigor.  The  consummate 
soldier  hastened  to  obey ;  and  fighting  simultane- 
ously with  a  sword  of  gold  and  a  sword  of  steel — 
both  ahke  sharp  in  his  hands — he  made  brave  prog- 
ress. Maestricht  was  escaladed  and  sacked ;  Mech- 
lin and  Bois-le-Duc  bowed  anew  to  take  the  Span- 
ish yoke. 

In  March,  1579,  a  new  attempt  was  made  to 
effect  a  reconciHation  between  the  provinces  and 
his  majesty.  The  diplomats  met  at  Cologne,  and 
held  a  prolonged  council,  which  resulted  in  noth- 
ing save  an  immense  bill  of  expenses.  The  king 
was  resolute  in  demanding  the  extirpation  of  Prot- 
estantism ;  the  states  were  determined  in  requiring 
toleration.  Late  in  the  year,  the  conference  broke 
up  amid  mutual  curses. 

Dutch  Ref.  25 


818  THE  DUTCH  KEFORMATION.  ^ 

The  new  year  was  inaugurated  by  the  renuncia- 
tion of  the  sovereignty  of  Spain  by  the  states-gen- 
eral of  the  Netherlands.  The  archduke  Mathius 
was  politely  sent  back  to  Germany,  and  the  duke 
D'Alen9on  was  voted  into  the  sovereignty,  but  on 
such  terms  as  guaranteed  the  virtual  independence 
of  the  land.  D'Alen9on's  rule  was  neither  long  nor 
prosperous.  Disgusted  by  the  narrow  boundaries 
set  to  his  authority,  he  early  began  to  scheme  for 
an  absolute  sceptre.  On  the  ceremony  of  his  instal- 
lation, Orange  had  placed  the  ducal  mantle  upon 
his  shoulders.  "Fasten  it  well,  prince,"  said  the 
Frenchman,  in  a  stage  aside,  "  so  that  they  can't 
take  it  off  again."  He  was  soon  to  learn  that  he 
asked  an  impossibility.  After  an  attempt  to  cap- 
ture Antwerp  in  the  interest  of  his  idea,  which 
failed,  he  was  compelled  to  retire  into  France, 
where  he  shortly  died.  The  provinces  at  once  re- 
sumed their  sovereignty,  and  in  1583,  decided  to 
vest  the  supreme  power  in  the  prince  of  Orange. 

Some  years  before,  Philip  had  formally  banned 
William,  set  a  price  upon  his  head,  and  invoked  the 
stiletto  of  the  bravo  to  abridge  his  life.  Orange 
replied  by  publishing  his  famous  "apology" — a 
paper  which  recites  the  story  of  his  contest  with 
Spain,  and  forms  one  of  the  grandest  vindications 
ever  penned.  Nevertheless  the  royal  act  of  out- 
lawry was  to  bear  bitter  fruit.  Already  repeated 
attempts  had  been  made  to  assassinate  the  illus- 
trious offender,  one  of  which  wellnigh  proved  fatal. 
On  the  10th  of  July,  1584,  the  sands  in  his  glass  of 


PRAISE  GOD.  819 

life  ran  out — not  naturally,  but  by  the  breaking  of 
the  glass.  A  wretch  named  Balthazar  Gerard,  who 
had  taken  service  with  him  for  that  purpose,  shot 
the  liberator  as  he  left  the  dining-room  of  his  pal- 
ace at  Delft.  Falling  into  the  arms  of  an  attend- 
ant, he  cried  faintly  in  French,  "  God  pity  me !  I 
am  sadly  wounded.  God  have  mercy  on  my  soul, 
and  on  this  unhappy  nation."  Soon  after  he  ex- 
pired, and  "flights  of  angels  sang  him  to  his  rest." 

It  were  superfluous  to  pronounce  the  eulogy  of 
such  a  man — his  whole  life  was  a  panegyric.  Cer- 
tainly history  presents  no  better  specimen  of  disin- 
terested and  entire  manhood.  Humanity  is  richer 
for  his  living :  the  world  is  heir  to  the  inheritance 
of  his  example. 

With  the  fall  of  Orange,  a  new  epoch  opened 
for  the  Netherlands.  The  animation  of  the  drama 
seems  suspended,  for  the  central  hero  dies  out  of  it. 
A  new  generation  appear  upon  the  stage ;  and,  as 
Grattan  has  it,  "the  stirring  impulse  of  slavery 
breaking  its  chains  yields  to  the  colder  inspiration 
of  independence  maintaining  its  rights." 

But  the  war  ceased  not.  Farnese  fought  now 
with  fresh  enthusiasm ;  and  the  people,  greater 
than  any  individual,  rallied  to  defend  what  had 
been  thus  far  achieved.  Prince  Maurice  of  Nassau, 
a  boy  of  eighteen,  was  inducted  into  the  stadthold- 
erate  just  vacated  by  his  father's  death ;  and  tl""~ 
was  the  commencement  of  his  long,  stirring,  ai 
successful  career. 

It  was  Farnese's  plan  to  separate  those  provi 


820  THE  DUTCH  EEFOEMATION. 

ces  tied  together  by  the  union  of  Utrecht  from  the 
Belgic  states ;  and  in  this  he  was  slowly  succeeding. 
Ypres,  Termonde,  Ghent,  Brussels,  succumbed,  one 
after  another,  ere  William  had  been  in  the  grave  a 
twelvemonth ;  and  when,  in  1585,  Antwerp  was 
taken  by  the  Spaniard  after  one  of  the  most  famous 
sieges  in  military  history,  the  desired  separation 
was  substantially  secured — the  Belgic  and  the 
Dutch  were  to  be  thenceforth  alien  and  often  inim- 
ical nationalities. 

Leaving  the  reconquered  states  of  southern 
Netherlands,  forlorn  beyond  description,  the  genius 
of  independence  retired  to  the  nascent  republic  in 
the  north  ;  and  preferring  destruction  rather  than 
submission,  continued  to  resist,  bulwarked  by  the 
Dutch  morasses,  bucklered  by  the  unconquerable 
will  of  a  people  set  "  never  to  submit  nor  yield." 

From  the  year  1585  onward  to  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  the  history  of  the  Low  Countries 
is  a  stirring  record  of  battle  and  siege  and  diplo- 
matic ruse,  in  which  success  inclined  now  to  one 
side,  now  to  the  other,  though  the  united  provinces 
made  perceptible  progress  towards  independence 
and  the  position  of  a  first-rate  power.  On  the  sea 
they  were  without  a  rival;  in  Europe  alone  they 
had  twelve  hundred  merchant  ships,  manned  by 
seventy  thousand  sailors,  constantly  employed.  Two 
thousand  vessels  were  annually  built ;  and  in  the 
year  1598,  eighty  ships  sailed  from  their  ports  for 
America  and  the  Indies.  They  carried  on  an  active 
trade  on  the  coast  of  Guinea,  whence  large  quauti- 


PEAISE  GOD.  821 

ties  of  gold-dust  were  brought ;  and,  indeed,  all 
quarters  of  the  globe  yielded  them  the  reward  of 
their  commercial  industry,  skill,  and  daring.  At 
this  time,  too,  England  was  the  close  ally  of  the 
Dutch,  making  common  cause  against  the  Span- 
iard ;  while  Maurice  of  Nassau  led  the  trained  co- 
horts of  the  republic  from  victory  to  victory. 

In  September,  1598,  Philip  II.  died,  bequeath- 
ing to  his  successor  the  legacy  of  the  Dutch  war. 
But  upon  his  demise,  Belgium  was  erected  into  an 
independent  sovereignty,  under  Philip's  daughter, 
the  infanta  Isabella,  and  her  husband,  Albert  of 
Austria.  In  1609  a  truce  for  twelve  years  was  sign- 
ed betw^een  Spain  and  the  republic  at  Antwerp,  and 
the  Dutch  made  use  of  this  interval  of  peace  to 
recuperate  their  resources,  renew  their  alliances 
with  foreign  powers,  and  si3read  the  expanding 
interests  of  their  commercial  enterprise.  It  was  at 
this  time  that  the  famous  East  India  Company  was 
organized — a  company  which  carried  the  name  and 
fame  of  the  republic  to  the  remotest  corners  of  the 
earth,  and  annexed  continents  as  coffers  wherein  to 
garner  honest  gains.  It  was  at  this  time  too  that 
the  synod  of  Dort  was  held,  which  settled  the  eccle- 
siastical affairs  of  Holland ;  that  the  Pilgrim  Fa- 
thers of  New  England  were  domesticated  at  Ley- 
den  ;  and  that  the  internal  religious  dissensions  be- 
gan which  were  one  day  to  work  the  ruin  of  the 
commonwealth. 

In  1621  war  with  Spain  was  renewed ;  and  just 
before  the  thirty  years'  war  in  Germany  began,  so 


822  THE  DUTCH  REFORMATION! 

that  tlie  whole  coutinent  was  now  ablaze.  A  dance 
of  death  Avhich  lasted  a  quarter  of  a  century  ensued. 
And  ere  peace  came  in  continental  Europe,  England 
"was  rent  by  the  civil  war  of  the  Boundheads  and 
the  Cavaliers. 

It  was  not  until  1648  that  peace  was  declared 
between  Spain  and  Holland ;  but  at  that  date,  after 
a  conflict  of  eighty  years,  the  Spaniard  acknowl- 
edged the  independence  of  the  Dutch,  and  by  the 
treaty  of  Munster  definitively  yielded  all  claim  upon 
the  sovereignty  of  the  republic.  A  few  months 
later  the  peace  of  Westphalia  was  signed,  and  Eu- 
rope at  lai'ge  was  pacified. 

A  brilliant  epoch  succeeded  for  Holland.  In 
■wealth,  in  commerce,  in  navigation,  in  letters,  in 
painting,  the  Dutch  were  preeminent.  Their  tra- 
ding companies  outranked  all  rivals — were  alike 
puissant  in  the  orient  and  in  the  Occident.  Their 
navy,  ofiicered  by  Van  Tromp  and  De  Euyter, 
maintained  the  dominion  of  the  sea ;  and  headed 
by  William  of  Orange,  afterwards  William  III.  of 
England,  the  republic  actually  humbled  the  haughty 
power  of  Louis  XIV. 

But  after  a  hundred  years  of  such  supremacy, 
internal  religious  conflicts  began  to  undermine  this 
prosperity — a  commonwealth  impregnable  to  out- 
ward attack,  consolidated  in  war,  born  of  battle, 
gradually  crumbled  away  self-consumed.  Calvin- 
ists  on  one  side,  Arminians  on  the  other,  contended 
to  their  mutual  undoing ;  and  when,  in  1793,  the 
republican  army  of  France  swept  into  the  Nether- 


PBAISE  GOD.  823 

lands,  the  ancient  liberties  of  the  country  fell  pros- 
trate before  the  invasion.  The  Batavian  repubhc 
was  formed  by  foreign  dictation ;  and  from  this 
time  till  the  banishment  of  Napoleon  to  Elba,  Hol- 
land was  dragged  an  unwilling  victim  in  French 
chains.  For,  to  quote  the  striking  language  of  La- 
fayette, "  the  tyranny  of  1793  was  no  more  a  repub- 
lic than  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  was  a 
religion." 

After  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  the  Netherlands 
were  reconstructed  by  the  allies,  Belgium  and  Hol- 
land being  united  in  one  kingdom.  It  was,  perhaps, 
a  well-meant  arrangement,  but  it  was  short-sighted ; 
for  the  Dutch  and  the  Belgians,  now  widely  sepa- 
rated in  the  lapse  of  time,  dissimilar  in  language, 
customs,  and  rehgion,  soon  quarrelled  ;  and,  in  1830, 
the  heterogeneous  kingdom  fell  apart,  Holland  be- 
coming a  constitutional  monarchy,  as  it  is  in  our  day. 

And  now,  familiar  with  the  facts,  with  our  eyes 
upon  the  record,  shall  we  marvel  that  Holland, 
cradled  in  the  morasses — bred  up  between  two  grave 
and  holy  nurses,  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the 
gospel — went  on  from  success  to  success,  invincible 
alike  on  land  and  sea,  belting  the  globe  with  its 
dependencies,  and  reaping  a  hundred-fold  even  in 
material  fields,  in  return  for  the  precious  seeds  of 
its  losses?  That  blessing  which  God  breathed  over 
the  tents  of  Jacob  through  the  reluctant  lips  of  the 
old  prophet,  descended  also  upon  this  Israel: 
"Blessed  is  he  that  blesseth  thee,  and  cursed  is  he 
that  curseth  thee." 


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